


You Son of a Bitch! I'm in.

by GuestWriter



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Smut, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:46:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23921797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuestWriter/pseuds/GuestWriter
Summary: Ashe promised himself he was done with a life of crime. But desperate times call for desperate measures. When Sylvain approaches him with a job Ashe can't refuse, Ashe gets caught up in a game of cat and mouse with four teams gunning for the prize. However, money isn't the only thing on the line when Ashe gets his heart involved.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/My Unit | Byleth, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Dedue Molinaro, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 11
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter 1

Ashe swirled his mint tea, considering his company he should have gotten something stronger. Sylvain Jose Gautier, son of one of the most prominent businessmen in Fodlen, sat across for him in a small diner. Sylvain only came to Ashe when he needed a favor. “It really quite simple, an in-and-out job.” The redhead took another bite out of his pheasant roast sandwich. “Yeah at the largest museum in all of Fodlen.” Ashe signed and took another sip of his tea. They were seated in the back booth next to the window, steady rain hit the glass pane. It was too late for hungover drunkards to get breakfast, but too early for the lunch rush. Sylvain leaned back and spread his arms over the red plastic booth. Even if his fancy tailored suit, Sylvain looked right at home in the dingy diner. But to be fair Sylvain just fit in everywhere, a trait Ashe was a little jealous of. “I hear Austin got into U of F, one of the best universities in Faerghus. I bet you’re pretty proud of him.” Sylvain gave Ashe a sly smile. Ashe knew exactly where this was heading. “Do you think is the firm’s paying well enough to for both tuition and Christophe’s medical bills?”

‘Damn it.’ Ashe thought. Sylvain really did know the right buttons to push. Ashe’s adopted father Lonato Gaspard had owned and operated Gaspard Security Firm during his life, even getting Ashe a pretty decent job there. It wasn’t the most glamorous life, but Ashe couldn’t have hoped for better, not with his past. Yet when his older brother got sick and then Lonato’s death, things got expensive fast. Even with money being tight, Ashe couldn’t say no to his siblings. With Austin about to leave for college and in another two Abby, Ashe had to come up with a lot of money quickly.

Ashe rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms. “Damn it, fine.” Ashe hiss. “Sorry what was that?” Sylvain stretch out an arm to grabbed the last of his sandwich. Ashe got up and grabbed his coat to leave, before turning to the cocky redhead. “You son of bitch, I’m in.”

\------  
It had been a week since the meeting in the diner, life was pretty much the same as usual. Until that evening when Ashe got a text from an unknown number with an address, date, and time. Ashe needed a drink, too bad he refused to drink in front of his younger siblings, who were currently sitting at the kitchen table doing their homework. The three of them were especially close ever since their parents died when Ashe was seven. Being shuffled through the system was hard on them and Ashe decided they were better off on the streets. 

It was then Ashe became pretty good at infiltration and theft. He did just about anything from petty theft to breaking and entering to survive. He built up a nice sizable rap sheet by the time he was ten. Yet one particular botched job somehow ended up to be the best thing that happened to him and his siblings. Turns out breaking into the home of the top security firm owner’s homes was pretty impressive. Lucky for him Lonato was a good man, who saw a kid in a tight spot, and adopted Ashe and his brother and sister. After getting a good education and a few pulled strings, Ashe got a job as a project manager at Lonato’s firm. There Ashe became an expert in not only bolstering security systems, but how to breach them as well.

Ashe tossed his phone on to the counter and started making dinner. “Is something wrong?” Abby looked up from her chem book. She was the spitting image of their mom and too pretty for her own good. Ashe didn’t know what he would do when she started dating. “Nothing, just work.” Ashe started chopping vegetables. “Promise?” Abby was also too smart for her own good. “Yes, I promise.” Ashe winced inward, technically he wasn’t lying. A Job is work. The conversation caught Austin’s attention. Austin was only one of them without silver hair, yet his little brown hair was just as unruly as Ashe’s. “Is it that Arianrhod Corporation project? I mean they already have the top of the line security what more do they want? The building is completely impregnable!” “There is no just thing as completely impregnable.” Ashe lit the stove and started frying up some strips of meat. “There are always little cracks, and its my job to find those cracks and plug them up.” Ashe continued moving about the kitchen. “I’m just saying, they could lay off you a bit. Besides, who would break into a chemical lab anyway. It’s not like they house treasure or valuable artifact or weapons or something.” Ashe nearly dropped the knife at Austin’s remarks. Abby stuck out her tongue. “Arianrhod produces some the most advance medicines in Fodlen. They have every right to be cautious.” “Alright, enough chitchat. Finish your homework and clear the table. Dinner will be ready soon” Ashe called over his shoulder. 

Finally, after evening chores and videos games, Austin and Abby turned in for the night. Ashe went into Lonato’s office, well his office now. Ashe still had a hard time with coming to grips that he now technically owned the large house. The office was cozy, dark wood and brown leather, and rows of bookcases full of books Lonato use to read with Ashe before bed. Ashe plopped himself down behind the desk. He gave the chair a full spin, letting it come to a stop in front of the right-side drawers. The first time Ashe actually used the office, he found the bottom draw was just a cover for a small refrigerator. Opening it now, Ashe pulled out one of the stronger craft beers. Ashe twisted off the cap and took a long swig before fishing his phone out of his pocket. 

The address was for a warehouse near the docks in Mateus, about an hour train ride away. The date was for this Friday at four. Ashe took another drink while he scrolled through his calendar. He would have to move around a few meetings, Abby was having a sleep over at a friend’s house, and Austin could stay home by himself for one night. Ashe just needed an excuse. Scrolling through his contacts, Ashe clicked on the one name he thought the least risky to keep. Annette was an old friend Ashe knew from school and, probably like him, was in need of an alibi. “Drinks? Friday at 4?” Ashe finished off beer and hit send. Not five minutes later the phone lit up. “Sure! That bar near the waterfront?” Annette was a life saver. “See you then.” Ashe received a few emojis in response. After burying the beer bottle in the bottom of the recycling, Ashe headed to bed.

\------  
Ashe stood in front of an old warehouse, staring at the faded sign painted above the garage doors. This was the place. He had arrived a few minutes early and was working up the nerve to go inside. ‘This is the last time. Just get them through college.’ Ashe grabbed the handle and yanked the door open. The warehouse was half gutted and a bunch of couches were pushed into a corner surrounding a chalk board. Leaning against the table in the middle, Sylvain looked as causal ever, for a guy wearing a suit by the docks. Next to him stood Dimitri, the heir of the Blaiddyd Conglomerate and secret leader of the Blue Lion Mafi. His body guard and driver Dedue Molinaro stood just off to the side. On the couch under the window sat Felix Fraldarius, son of the chairman of the Blaiddyd board. Was everyone wearing a suit, should Ashe have worn a suit? Felix had his arms crossed and scowled at, everything really. Cuddled up to him however, was the bright and cheery Annette. “Hey, Ashe right on time!” She gave him a wink. Felix narrowed his eyes at the new comer. Ashe thought it best to sit on the other couch, just to be safe.

“We’re just waiting on two more then.” Sylain adjusted his jacket. The door opened up and a blonde woman strolled in. Ingrid Brandl Galatea, a smart and savvy businesswoman, who gave off an intimidating air. She smoothed down her pencil skirt before taking a seat next to Ashe. She gave him a curt nod. “Make that one more.” Sylvain chuckled. Dimitri twitched and checked his watch. Ever since losing his eye, Dimitri was more aggressive about things going his way. It made Ashe uncomfortable. 

Everyone sat there in silence for an uncomfortable amount of time, and Dimitri took to pacing back and forth. It couldn’t really have been more than five minutes, but when the door slammed open finally, everyone who wasn’t Dimitri let out a collective sigh. “I’m so sorry I’m late!” Mercedes half ran in the group. “The cookies took longer than I thought and I got a little lost finding my way here.” The tall woman set a plate of warm cookies on the table behind Sylvain. “Who brings cookies to a heist meeting?” Felix scoffed. Annette just elbowed him in the side. Sylvain reached behind him to grab a cookie. Ingrid fidgeted beside Ashe. “You can have one if you want.” Ashe gestured towards the table. It seemed like she was only waiting for permission before grabbing one, two, five cookies. Annette was also quick to get a cookie. 

“If we can get started now.” Dimitri growled. “Right.” Sylvain pushed himself off the table. “As all of you may know, Garreg Mach Museum is hosting their annual Hero’s Exhibit and this year the Church of Seiros generously donated five of their Hero’s Relics for display this year.” Sylvain pasted around flyers advertising the event. Ashe looked over the paper. The Seiro emblem was stamped on it with bright gold ink. “So.” Felix directed his gruff at the redhead. “So, Areadbhar will be on display for the first time in two hundred years. And that lance belongs to my family, not the church!” Dimitri’s voice was on edge. Dedue stood up straight. “Sir, take a breath.”

“The museum is like a forte, our firm and three others ran different sims on the place. It was almost impossible to get in.” Ashe glanced between the three men in front of the chalk board. “Almost impossible.” Sylvain pointed at the silver haired man. “We have a way in the front door.” Sylvain pulled out five tickets out of his pocket. “Ingrid, Felix, Dimitri, Dedue, and myself will be attending the opening gala. While Mercedes and Ashe will be joining the wait staff, and Annette we'll have a lovely van decked out with everything you’ll need, parked a mile from the museum.” Sylvain winked at the ginger on the couch. Sylvain kept talking, but Ashe didn’t pay attention. Ashe sunk deep into the couch. He hated gala’s, not that he ever went to one as an actual guest. This was going to be a long job.


	2. Chapter 2

Ashe tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. School got out five minutes ago, but kids were just now trickling out. Abby ran up to the small four-door in the line of luxury cars. “Shotgun!” “You know that’s not fair, Austin’s not even outside.” Ashe chuckled. “Snooze, you lose. Besides, I saw him talking to that cute blue haired boy from seventh period.” Abby raised her eyebrows at Ashe. “Oh, another sighting of the infamous blue haired boy. Any new developments?” “Well I heard from Juniper his name is Simon and he’s looking for a prom date.” “Really?” Ashe playfully smirked. “And he has a thing for green eyes, apparently.” Abby shrugged her shoulders. “Well, well, well seems like our young Austin might being getting himself a date to prom.”

At that moment Austin was practically skipping to the car. “So, how was school.” Ashe watched Austin slide into the back through the review mirror. “It was fine.” “Just fine?” Abby spun around to poke at her brother. “Stupid up.” Austin kicked the back of her seat, but it was clear he was just playing around by the smile he was trying to hide. “Alright, seat belts on. Why don’t we get Morfis for dinner? It seems like we might be celebrating.” Ashe steered the car out of the parking lot.

Later that night, the three siblings sat around the dinning room table passing around takeout boxes. “Can I borrow the car on Saturday?” Austin scooped out rice on to his plate. “What for?” Ashe grabbed some flat bread. “I have a date.” “Oh.” Austin kicked Abby under the table. “Where are you going?” “Um, just dinner and a movie.” “I don’t have a problem with it as long as your back by eleven.” “Can’t I stay out until midnight? Please?!” Austin look liked he was trying to force Ashe to say yes with his eyes. “No, it’s the second Sunday of the month.” Austin hung his head and Abby grew quiet. “I forgot.” Austin pushed his food around his plate. “It’s okay. How about if you get home by eleven, you can have the car for prom.” “Promise?!” “Promise.” Ashe nodded as his brother smiled from ear to ear. “Hey, what about me?!” “What about you?” Ashe turned to his sister. “Well, my friends are having a sleep over at Francesca’s house since sophomores can’t go to prom. Can I go?” “Sure, if Austin drops you off.” “What?!” “You’ll have the car remember.” “Fine.” The siblings bantered back and forth for the rest of dinner.

A few hours later, Ashe was working on his laptop in his office. Projects at work were backing up and Ashe needed to clear his schedule. He was hoping to get this done soon, since he had an upcoming appointment in two day. But the Arianrhod project was kicking his ass. Ashe rubbed his eyes. A soft knock at the door drew Ashe’s attention. Abby was leaning against the door frame, she looked worried. “Hey, did you need something?” “Are you okay?” Ashe looked at her in confusion. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” “I was just thinking, Austin is going off to college in a few months and I mean I’m not going to be here much longer either.” “Hey two years is a long time.” Ashe shut his laptop and went to stand next to her. “Yeah, but I knew you work really hard for us and you seem kind of lonely lately. If you wanted to, I don’t know, start seeing people again it wouldn’t be the worst things.” Abby stood up straighter to look him in the eye. “I just know that you haven’t dated since Marianne and I was just thinking it might do you some good.” 

Ashe was always a little surprised at his sister’s maturity. It was probably growing up as the only girl in the family. Their mom had died before Abby turned one and Lonato was divorced when they were adopted, so Abby had it hard. Though she would never admit it. “Hey, I’m fine. Right now, you guys are all I need. Besides, if I start dating who’s going to play the new Edge of Dawn game with you on Saturday?” “Wait, what? But I thought it come out Friday?” Abby’s face lit up. “I might have preorder it.” Ashe just shrugged. “Oh, you’re on! I call dibs on the Master Tactician!” “What?!” “I called dibs.” Abby turned to leave. “But I’m seriously, it would do you some good to actually spend time with people who aren’t your family.” With that she headed off to bed. Ashe stood there for a moment to watch her go. With a heavily sign, he returning to his work.

\------

Ashe met Annette on Thursday outside her work downtown. The chipper girl hopped in his car and immediately started talking about her job, Felix, how she burned dinner last night, Felix, and the latest pop song on the radio. Ashe patiently listened to her rambling while occasionally adding his own thoughts. They were in the car for about thirty minutes before they pulled into the parking deck across from Garreg Mach. “Got everything you need?” Ashe pulled his jacket on. “Yep, this little baby can detach electronic signals in the air.” Annette held up a normal looking cell phone. “It uses thunder reason! Felix helped me developed it.” Ashe felt a tangent coming on. “That’s okay, I get the idea.” Annette blushed slightly. “Sorry, I was doing it again. Let’s get this show on the road.” Annette quickly bounced back and took the hand Ashe held out.

They’ve done this before, played the couple on a date. Last time it was a jewelry store job about four years ago. Ashe smiled at the memory. They walked hand in hand across the street to the museum. The classic limestone building housed the most priceless and rare artifacts, art, and historical objects in all Fodlen, and in two weeks’ time five of the most powerful weapons. Ashe was fully aware they plan on steal a fortune worth a small country’s GDP. It would be his largest job ever. Ashe lead Annette leisurely around the different exhibits, slowly working their way towards the area that was going to house the Heroes’ Relics. Everyone around them only saw an unassuming couple admiring the art, when in reality Annette was scanning the museum’s security software, looking for a way to piggy back on to the system, while Ashe looked for the hardware.

Cameras and sensors littered every room. Ashe wasn’t surprised, he had been here about a year ago giving the museum advise on how to improve its security, security he was now here to get past. “I’m going to the bathroom. Wait for me?” “Sure, I’ll be in the Throat exhibit.” Annette skipped off to complete her mission. Ashe walked over to one of the tapestries that depicted battles of old. He pulled out a tourist map of the build, littered with his coded notes. Movement to his left caught Ashe’s eye. Near the end of the exhibit was woman looking at a large painting of wyverns in flight. Ashe couldn’t help but stare. Her teal hair was pulled up into a loose ponytail and her blouse, tucked into her skirt, extenuated her curves. Ashe moved casually towards the middle of the exhibit hall, trying to look nonchalant. However, before he could take another step, Ashe knocked his knee on a bench. “Fu..” Ashe bite his lip, stopping the curse and tried to right himself. Ashe hear a soft giggle, blood rushed to his face. Ashe just stared at a landscape, trying to get over his embarrassment. His map crumpled between his hands. 

“You know, this depicts the mountain range near Kupala? This painting in particular was rumored to be one of the Apostle Chevalier’s work. Though, it was never confirmed.” Ashe glanced over to see the woman was now standing right next to him. Her arms were crossed and her head titled slightly towards him. “I um didn’t know th..that.” Was Ashe stuttering? ‘What the Hell?’ He hadn’t done that since middle school. “Do you like Hundred A.S. realism art?” “Um well, I guess I’m mo…more of a Faerghus ah Renaissance man myself.” “Oh?” The woman turned to him; her purple eyes sparked behind thick rim glasses. Ashe realized he was holding his breath. “I like knights. Ah I mean I like tales about knights!” Ashe felt like he was floundering under this beautiful woman’s gaze. “Well if that’s the case, might I suggest the exhibit two rooms down? There is a painting that depicts Knight Kyphon after the death of Loog that is truly breathtaking. Although, when I stand before it, I feel very alone.” 

Something about her tone sent a tingle down the back of Ashe's neck and not in a good way. “Is that um so?” The woman took Ashe’s map and a pen from her purse. “I highly recommend you see it before you leave.” She circled a spot on the map, just along the left well near said painting. She handed Ashe back the map, but didn’t let go just yet. “I like knights too.” Their hands touched for the briefest of moments. The tiny smile she gave him made Ashe’s heart beat so hard, he was sure she could hear it. But he didn’t know if it was because this beautiful woman was smiling at him or because she might just know what he was doing. “You might want to help out your girlfriend before she knocks over that vase.” “What?!” Ashe wiped around just in time to see Annette running up him. “Ashe, there you are!” “Annette, stop!” Ashe yelled at her. Annette came to a screeching halt half a foot from a vase display. 

Ashe turned back to the woman, but she was already leaving out the other end. “Who’s she?” Annette peeked around him. Not bothering to answer her question, Ashe grabbed Annette by the arm and hurried them towards the painting. Taking a second, Ashe stood in the spot marked on his map. Ashe looked around taking in the room. “Wow.” Annette glanced at her phone. “What?” “Well, the power grid for the museum runs in a pretty standard pattern. Except right here, the power out put is weaker. Which would suggest there is less hardware drawing power.” Ashe did another sweep of the room. It clicked, in the corner there was one camera doing the job of three! The worst part, an emergency door was smack dab in the middle of the blind spot. “The Hell?!” Ashe felt all the blood drain from his face. That woman knew. “Annette, we need to leave right now!” Ashe grabbed her hand and tried to leave as calmly as possible.

\------

The drive to the warehouse took less time than it should time than should have. Ashe pushed the speed limit as fast as he dared. They drove in silence after he explained what happened. Someone else was planning on hitting up the museum, but the question was who? Pulling up a block away, Ashe parked the car by the fish market. The two weaved their way through the stalls. If they were being followed, stealth is key. Ten minutes later, Ashe and Annette ran into the warehouse. “Hey, you’re back early.” Sylvain was eating an apple, sitting next to Felix on one of the couches. “We found a blind spot. Well Ashe found it. But that’s not the point.” Annette was talking a mile a minute. Felix pushed off the couch and walked over to her. “You’re rambling.” Felix covered her mouth. 

Ashe jumped in to say something. “We have a problem!” Before Ashe could say anything, Ingrid entered the warehouse. “Which is?” Sylvian banked the apple core into the trash across the room. “I got the guest list for the gala.” Ingrid pinned the list to the chalk board. Dimitri stalked out from whatever shadow he was sulking in to look at the list. “That damn woman!” Dedue was close behind to take Dimitri’s hand. “And she’s not the only one.” Ingrid crossed her arms. Sylvain peered over Dimitri. “Claude. Well it looks like all of Fodlen’s elite will be there.” Ashe’s heart started pounding. This was bad. Edelgard von Hresvelg, of Hresvelg Holding and Claude con Riegan, of The Riegan Entertainment Network were also two of the most notorious crime lords in Fodlen. Were all rich people involved in crime? Ashe’s mind was spinning. “That would explain that woman Ashe met at the museum.” Annette piped in.

“What woman?” Dimitri spun around to face Ashe; rage clouded his eyes. “I don’t know, I’ve never seen her before. I couldn’t even begin to guess who she’s working with. But she knows what she’s doing.” Ashe held his ground as best he could, which was difficult considering a very angry and very dangerous man was glaring at him. “Well we need to find out. Should we make contact with Edelgard and Claude?” Sylvain rubbed his face. “Why? I won’t let anyone get that lance before me.” Ashe was sure Dimitri literally growled. “Shut up boar! Your own reckless behavior will ruin this.” Ashe didn’t know if Felix was the stupidest or the bravest man he knew. But it did get through to Dimitri. “Fine, make the call.” With that Felix left the warehouse. Ashe wasn’t sure what to do with his hands, so he just shoved them into his pockets. Sylvain sensed the uncomfortable air in the warehouse. “Why don’t the rest of you go home while we figure out what we’re doing next.” With a nod, Ashe, Annette, and Ingrid left the warehouse. 

“Do you need a ride?” Ashe looked over at Annette. “Nah, I’m just going to wait for Felix at that coffee shop down the way.” There was less bounce in her step. Ingrid was digging in her purse, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. “WHAT THE HECK?!” Annette almost took out Ashe’s legs with a pirouette. “When did you start smoking.” Ingrid signed and lit one. “After, well you know. I tried to stop, but when I got pulled back in for another job, well old habits die hard.” Ingrid took a drag and kicked a rock. She looked really sad and tired. “Why did you come back?” Annette watched the smoke lazily drift up. “Same as usual, I suppose. Money. Dad’s farm is having another bad year.” Ashe just leaned against the warehouse brick wall listening. Like him, Ingrid and Mercedes always seemed to show up when money was tight. “Anyway, I need to get back to the office. Since we’re helping to coordinate the gala, it’s been one thing after another.” Ingrid stomped out the cigarette with the toe of her high heel and walked off. “I’ll see you later.” Ashe headed for his car, not for the first time questioning whether this job was worth it.


	3. Chapter 3

The second Sunday of every mouth is one of the few times that all the Gaspard children are all together. Ashe walks up to the nurses’ desk and waits patiently for the woman to get off the phone. “We’re here to see Christophe.” “Ah yes, room twelve. You came on a good day.” She gave him a pitiful smile. Ashe led his siblings down the hall. Ashe never liked the smell of hospitals, it reminded him of how many people his lost. Abby pushed through the door first. “Hey Chris, we brought you flowers” The black hair man in the wheelchair seemed to recognize her, this time, and gave stiff nod to her.  
Christophe was their brother by adoption. He was a few years older when Lonato took them in, but Ashe always had a close relationship with him. Unfortunately, Christophe got caught up with a bad crowd his freshman year of college. Not realizing he drank out of the wrong cup at a party, Christophe overdosed on some unknow drug and had a sever stroke. Lonato did not take it well, the stress and guilt led to Lonato’s heart failure. Having lost family before, Ashe stepped up and held his family together through sheer force of will.

Christophe was seating by the window that over looked a small pond, being near nature seemed to help him. Austin pulled up a chair and started talking about what was new with him, while Abby put the flowers in the vase next to the bed. The siblings fell into a sort of routine, Christophe contently listening to the chatter around him. Ashe busied himself with tiding up the room. It was clean, normally cleaned by the hospital, but the staff never organized it the way Ashe knew Chris liked. Abby made a joke and made Chris laugh in his own way. Ashe knew his was trying, there was a pain in Chris’s teal eyes. Chris was in there, but his was trapped in his own body. Ashe did everything to make sure he was comfortable. 

Ashe never had an older brother until Christophe. Sure, he had Austin and Abby, but it was different with Christophe. When they had gone fishing, just the two of them, Ashe didn’t need to worry about doing the right thing or setting a good example. Christophe talked to him about all the things Ashe was worried about, like the first time he had a crush or when he was nervous about his archery tryouts. Ashe only hoped he could be that same kind of big brother to Austin and Abby. 

“Hey, why don’t you two go to the cafeteria and get some ice cream?” Ashe asked his younger siblings while he fluffed the pillows. “We’ll try, but last time they only had vanilla.” Abby scrunch up her nose. “Oh please, you put so many strawberries on yours it doesn’t matter the flavor of the ice cream.” Austin ruffled her hair and ran off down the hall with a shrieking Abby in tow. Ashe laughed at the sight before sitting down in the chair Austin had just occupied. Christophe leaned slightly forward in his wheelchair. He gave Ashe a strange look, his face scrunched up as he tried to form sentences that would never come. “Hey, its okay, we’re okay.” Ashe gave Chris a hopeful smile. Christophe looked frustrated. “Y…you.” Christophe managed to give Ashe a more determined look. “I’m fine, I just got a lot going on at work. But it should pay off big time.” Ashe couldn’t help up look out the window to avoid his brother’s intense stare. Ashe was convinced Chris knew, even in his current state. Christophe was very perceptive to Ashe’s feelings. “So, I met this girl.” It wasn’t a lie exactly, but it would distract his brother for a while. “She’s really smart, and pretty. I don’t know if I’ll see her again. But it made me think maybe I should start dating.” Ashe felt a heat in his face. 

“Wait what?!” Abby stood in the door way with two cups of ice cream, one had an absurd amount of strawberries. “You met a girl and you didn’t tell me?!” Abby came in like a wrecking ball. Austin behind her with another two cups. For the next hour, the sibling harassed Ashe about this mystery woman. 

\------

Monday afternoons were for Ashe to unwind. After hours of emails and phone calls, Ashe would head down to his favorite bistro for a quick lunch. Standing in the waiting line, Ashe hummed to himself as he looked around. Sitting in the in the outdoor patio was a teal haired woman sipping on an iced coffee. Ashe shuffled around in a panic. Did she see him? Should he go talk to her? Ashe caught her eye this time. There was not ignoring her now. ‘Fuck’ Ashe cringed inward. His number was called. Without thinking Ashe grabbed his lunch and in a misstep b-lined it for the woman’s table.

“Well if it isn’t my knight.” The teal haired woman smirked as she took a sip of her iced coffee. “Hello.” Ashe plopped down in the seat across from her. “Image us meeting here like this.” He didn’t know what to say. She titled her head slightly. “Our shared occupation would mean we would meet up sooner or later.” “I.. I imagined more our … um …. next meet up would involve more black leather… though.” Ashe choked immediately after saying those words. The woman barely held in her laughter. “I’m Byleth by the way.” She just moved passed that awkward line. “Ashe.” “I know, your work on the Bank of Merceus was quite something.” Ashe twisted the strings of his take out order, he thought he covered all his tracts on that job. “So, we’re working on the same target.” Byleth swirl her straw around.

“I take it you caught on to that blind spot.” Byleth gave Ashe a flat stare. “Yeah, but I don’t get it. It should have been obvious to anyone looking for an in.” Ashe bit his lip. Gaspard Security specialized in finding breaches that weren’t obvious. “It’s not your fault, you need to look outside the door.” She raised an eyebrow at him. Ashe thought about the target, pulling up the blueprints and past experience up in his minds. It stuck him like thunder. “The police station is just down the block down.” “Yep, because of that, security on the west side is lackluster.” Ashe bit his lip in thought. “Still, with the proper planning, someone could move a lot of ….” Ashe looked over at Byleth. She was smiling at him like he got the answer to pop quiz correct. “That doesn’t answer the real question, does it?” She asked cheekily. Ashe looked deep in her purple eyes. “How to move the Relic from the Event Hall to that emergency exist while hundreds of guests watching.” Ashe leaned towards her.

They stared each other down. Ashe willed himself to hold her gaze no matter what. Her pupils were wide with unmistakable excitement. Ashe felt his heart skip a beat. “There are very few people I can talk shop with.” Byleth took another sip of her coffee. Ashe agreed with her. Even at the firm, no one looked at a job like it was a target and the others in teh Blue Lions were to occupied with their own jobs. It was exciting for someone to push his limits like she did.

Suddenly a black SUV pulled up on the sidewalk of the bistro. It honked twice and a giant man with flowing black hair leaned out the passenger side window. He took up the whole window! “Hey there you are.” Byleth’s face fell flat. “Yuri needs you.” The man jumped out of the car and stared her down. Ashe feel her eyes on him. It was a plead for help, Ashe suddenly wanted to flee to Bridget with her. But he paused. “Alright, I’m coming.” Byleth turned to leave. “I’ll see you again?” Ashe called out. “Maybe, but it might involve more black leather.” Byleth turned to him as she put her sunglasses back on before getting in the car. The giant gave a hardy laugh before getting in next to her. Ashe watched the car leave down the street. Ashe’s lunch break left him with a bunch of mixed feelings.

\-------

The Gala was that was two weeks and the Blue Lion Mafia was gathered in the warehouse eating Srengness making their plans. “I’ve made in touch with my contacts, and both the Black Eagles Syndicate and Golden Deer Family are willing to meet.” Felix walked in carrying two large cases. “Did you really need all of those?” Annette rolled her eyes. Felix took a large hand gun out of one of the cases. “Better safe than sorry.” He immediately began breaking it down to clean. “Felix! Did you have to bring the big one?” Annette gasped at her boyfriend. The two squabbled in the corner. 

Not many people knew it, but Annette was the jealous one in the relationship. Ever since they started piecing together who their competition was, Annette had been a little on edge. More corkboards had been added to the warehouse, with different photos of possible people connected by string. Two pictures in particular had Annette upset. Bernadette von Varley and Lysithea von Cordelia, two of the three best hackers in Fodlan. They just so happen to also be Felix’s exes and after a comment from Sylvain about Felix having a cute hacker girl kink, Annette nearly walked. After a lot of convincing from Mercedes and Dedue keeping Dimitri from murdering someone, they get her to stay. 

Ashe did his best to concentrate on his task. He needed to figure out how he could get Areadbhar across the museum. “Mercedes, how easy would it for you to maybe cause a distraction after the Guest of Honor speak?” The woman in question was tinkering with some kind of bomb. She had told Ashe once bomb making was like needlework. Ashe was highly suspicious, but she had a knack for it, so he didn’t question it. “I could knock out the power box and cause a blackout. The backup generator shouldn’t kick on for thirty seconds. Would be that be enough time?” “Maybe.” Ashe twirled his pen between his fingers. “How big are those wait trolleys?” It was more to himself as he flipped through some of the paperwork in front of his.

“So, did you learn anymore about this Byleth lady?” Mercedes gave him a knowing smile. Ashe felt it difficult to look her in eye. “No. But once we figure out who she’s working with then we’ll know how to stop her.” “Or maybe you could ask her out?” Ashe about choked on nothing. “I should have never told you anything.” She only chuckled. Still Mercedes was had the best advice and when Ashe needed to talk about what happened on Monday, she was the first one he turned to. Sure, he had to tell the whole team, but he left out his feeling on the situation. 

“The meeting is set for later tonight; Dimitri can only bring two people with him.” Felix took out a few more guns from the cases and handed one to Dedue. “Where’s my gun?” Sylvain whined through a mouthful of chips. “You’re not going, Lorenz will be there.” Felix tucked another gun in a holster hidden behind his jacket. Ingrid snorted. She was going through the guest list, looking for any more potential rivals. “I say let him go, maybe they’ll kill each other.” Ashe barely hide his amusement at her remark. “Fuck that guy!” Sylvain glared at Ingrid. “Felix, shoot him on sight. Everyone else, let’s call it a day. No point in sticking around until we know what we’re up against.” Sylvain flopped down on one of the couches and kicked his feet up.

Ashe gathered his stuff up to leave. “Annetta and I are going out for a few drinks, want to come Ashe?” Mercedes grabbed her purse. “Yeah Ashe, come with! We haven’t hung out in forever.” Annette ran up to them, bouncing on her toes. “I cannot tonight, it’s a school night.” “Well how about Friday?” Annette was not going to let this go. “Sure, I could make that work.” The three left the warehouse towards their cars. “We’ll see you tomorrow then, Ashe.” Mercedes gave him a small smile and a wave before following after the small redhead who was sing some strange tune. Ashe chuckled to himself as he turned the corner. As he pulled his keys out, a black SUV swerved on to the road. It was speeding right towards him. “Oh shit.” Ashe attempted to jump out of the way, but it screeched to a stop in front of him. The giant man from Monday, jumped out and came at Ashe. “No hard feelings about this pal.” The giant smiled at him before stuffing Ashe’s head into a black bag. Ashe kicked with everything he had, but it was like fighting a brick wall. He felt himself being thrown into the van which than sped away.


	4. Chapter 4

After a long drive, with way too many turns, Ashe was dragged out of the car. Bag still over his head and hands zip tied in front of him, Ashe was marched down some stairs. He was surprised they didn’t knock him out, but with a flesh and blood Titanus guarding him, running was not an option. Coming to a stop, Ashe was shoved into a chair and the bag ripped off him. A bright light hanging from the ceiling blinded him. “This is the guy, pal.” “Thank you, Balthus.” Ashe blinked against the light to clear his vision. The man name Balthus walked over to stand next to the most gorgeous man Ashe has ever seen in his life. The man in question walked into the circle of light to lean over Ashe to rest his hands on the armrests. “So, you’re the one distracting our Byleth. I can see why she likes you; she did always have a soft spot for dorks.” He ruffled Ashe’s hair and walked over to a table. “Dork?” Ashe was a little insulted. 

At the table, a blonde woman had dumped out his bag and was going through its contents. Not looking up she handed a tablet to the man. They pair quite the pair, him in his dark purple button-down and black slacks, and her in a similar colored purple dress. ‘Oh, their one of those couples.’ Ashe rolled his eyes at the thought. “Obviously you’re working on getting Areadbhar for psychotic pretty boy. But I wanted to offer a side job on top of your current one.” The man flipped through something on the tablet as he walked back to Ashe. “This is the Chalice of Beginnings.” The man held the tablet for Ashe to see a picture of a large gold cup. “Its currently being stored in the vaults under Garreg Mach.” The man filled through more pictures on the tablet. They were very detailed schematics of not only the museum, but also the labyrinth of high-tech vaults underneath. Ashe was trying not to let his envy show. There were rumors of the vaults, but Ashe had never seen any evidence of them before now. 

The blonde walked over and took the tablet out of the man’s hands. “Let’s not show him all our secrets, shall we.” She started tapping on it as she walked away. “Why would I help you? Especially when betraying Dimitri would be bad for my health?” Ashe slumped back in the chair trying to at least pretend like he still had some cards to play in this mental poker game. The man flashed him a sly smile. “Oh, I can think of a few reasons.” He said with a wink. Ashe felt the blood rush to face, this man was too pretty and he used that as a weapon. Ashe was startled by a deep laugh, Balthus crossed his arms and shock his head. “Come now Yuri, don’t tease the poor boy. It would not do well for him to lose his nerve.” The woman scolded the man, but she was definitely smirking at Ashe behind the tablet. Ashe’s slumped farther down into the chair.

Yuri flipped his lavender hair over his shoulder and rounded on Ashe. “We’re not asking you to betray your little gang, just simply help us make sure our plan runs smoothly. Unfortunately, it seems like everyone and they’re mothers are trying break something out of that place all at the same time. We just need a little insurance that we succeed, if you get my drift friend.” “Again, why should I help you? From where sit I get nothing out of this and really there is nothing preventing me from telling Dimitri when I get out of here.” That was the wrong thing to say. Yuri narrowed his grey-violet eyes at Ashe. A sharp whistle alerted Ashe to a bored looking woman sitting on a couch in the shadows. She didn’t even look up from picking at her nails as two very big and very mean looking dogs got off the floor and stalked towards Ashe.

Ashe gave a very audible gulp as the two dog circled the him. “I think it would be in your best interest to work with us friend.” Yuri causally rolled up his sleeves. “I have a lot of … benefactors.” The way he paused made the word seem very sinister. “One such benefactor happens to be on the board of Saint Cethleann Memorial.” Ashe’s mind went blank and his body went cold. “One phone call and life might be very difficult for a patient.” One of the dogs growled at Ashe. “Or how about the one that work for the Magdred School District…” “Okay, I get it! Please just leave my family alone!” Ashe voice cracked. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears. Yuri cracked his knuckles; he was definitely getting ready to hit Ashe.

Suddenly the dogs stopped in their tracks. A door somewhere above them slammed shut. Foot steps came down the stairs. The dogs bounded towards the sound, wagging their tails. “Great timing Chatterbox.” The woman on the couch looked up and smiled at Yuri who grimaced. “Tim, Theo are you being good boys for your momma.” Ashe could hear Byleth greet the dogs with a baby voice. He simultaneously felt relieved and terrified. “I take it you didn’t run into any trouble Chatterbox?” Byleth came into view. She flopped down on the couch, rested her head on the redhead’s shoulder, and closed her eyes. “Not too much, just tedious work. But I finally got that computer thingy for Constance.” She held a flash drive up and the blonde woman, Constance swiped it out of her hand. “Be careful with that! Without this code our plans could be setback weeks!” Constance inserted into the tablet and got to work. Yuri and Balthus stepped in front of Ashe as if to hide him from view. “Well pal, how about you, Hapi, and I go upstairs and get a drink while these two works on all the smart stuff.” “Ha. Yes, roughing up someone requires a whole lot of smarts.” She got up and immediately made eye contact with Ashe. Ashe just stared in with his mouth hanging open. 

She stormed over to Yuri and grab him a harsh shove. “What the hell?!” “Hey now pal, we’re just worried about you.” Balthus grabbed the back of her arm. “And you show it by kidnapping people I’ve talk to? I ran into that Ignatz guy at the art gallery, want to shake him down too?” She continued to glare at Yuri. “You didn’t flirt with the counterfeit artist.” Yuri held her gaze with equal anger. “Ever since last week your mind hasn’t been in the game. Aelfric is concerned you might be having second thoughts.” “I am not having second thoughts! You know how important this job is to me.” “Really, you have a funny way of going about it. It took you twice as long to get in that software developer.” “I told you they had an unexpected security update.” “Oh, and you just decided to take the day off to make googly eyes at that idiot over coffee.” If Balthus wasn’t holding Byleth back, Ashe knew she would have decked Yuri.

Ashe was having a hard time getting his thoughts in order. But one kept floating to the forefront of his mind. ‘She likes me?!’ Now was not the time for that, he would have to come back to that later. Ashe was still in a lot of hot water. “No need to come to blows. Byleth, we brought this young man here to offer him a job. I’m sure you can see the benefit of having someone with his expertise on the inside.” Constance step in between the two. She earned some respect from Ashe for that. Those two looked like they were on the verge of murder. “Is that true?” Byleth looked at Ashe. Her face was blank again, but that helplessness twinkled in her eyes. Ashe wanted to comfort her, though seeing as he was tied up and surrounded by people who easily could kill him, that wasn’t the best idea. “Yeah, they were just asking for my help.” Ashe swallowed. She looked even more upset. “Fine.” She hung her head and stepped back. Yuri reflexed his shoulders. “It’s been a long day. Why don’t we all head home and start fresh in the morning, yeah?” Byleth didn’t say anything, she just stood there. “Right. Balthus if you could escort our guest back to his car.” “No problem, pal.” Balthus walked over to Ashe. “We’ll be in touch.” Yuri adjusted his shirt. The last thing Ashe saw before the bag went over his head was Byleth’s purple eyes full of concern.

\-----

Ashe finally got home well past midnight. He was exhausted and a little bruised. Pulling his car into the garage, Ashe sat there with his head resting on the steering wheel. There was a headache building behind his temples. Taking a few deep breaths and got out of the car. The house was completely dark when Ashe entered the kitchen. He opened the fridge to grab whatever leftovers were in there. Ashe dug out a fork from the drawer and didn’t bother to heat up his food. Walking to his office, Ashe saw a light turn on in the living room. 

Abby was curled up in the chair in her pajamas. “Where were you?” Ashe swallowed his mouthful of food. “Watching a few too many dramas?” “I’m serious Ashe.” “I was working late and I lost track of time, I promise I wouldn’t let it happen again.” Abby jumped up to slug him in the arm, right on a bruise hidden by his jacket. He did his best to hide the pain. “I know when you’re lying. Are you involved with that gang again?” Abby was shaking with anger. “You promised you’d stay out of trouble! Those are bad people and I don’t want you to get hurt.” Ashe really didn’t need this right now. “I’m okay, I promise I’m not going to get hurt. I just lost track of time that’s all.” It shouldn’t be this easy to lie. Abby crushed him in a tight hug. “I don’t believe you. You can’t promise that. We’ve already lost so many. I can’t lose you too.” Ashe could feel her tears wetting his shirt and it hurt his heart. “I’m sorry I scared you, I’ll do better.” Ashe did his best to hug her back, made a little difficult with the leftovers in his hand.

“It’s late, why don’t you go to bed.” Abby pushed off him with a heavily sign. “What about you?” “I’m got just a few things to finish up, then I’ll turn it.” Ashe gave her his best reassuring smile. “You better.” She gave him a punch to the arm again before turning to head upstairs. Abby turned around on the first step. “I love you.” “I love you too.” Ashe watched her head to bed. He gave a long sign and rubbed his brow. Unfortunately, this job was getting dangerous. Pushing open the door to the office Ashe put the leftovers down and shoulder off his bag. Flopping down in the chair, Ashe rested his head in his arms. Ashe let one of his arms drop to the small fridge and pull out the first beer bottle he touched. Seating back, he chugged it all and grabbed another. Ashe picked at the leftovers. He was avoiding looking in his bag. 

Grabbing it off the floor, Ashe fished around to find a cell phone. It was a burner that Constance slipped in his bag and Balthus instructed him to turn on when he got home. Ashe finished off his second beer and got a third. Ashe drank that one too before hitting the power button. The phone vibrated as it little up. A picture of Byleth was the lock screen. She seating on a bench in park with her chin on her hand as she leaned against the armrest. Her teal hair looked to be blowing softly in a breeze. She was smiling at the camera, a really smile that reached all the way to her eyes. Ashe was a little jealous of the person behind the camera who got to make her that happy. Opening the phone, the first thing Ashe did was set a password. If anyone got into this phone, he was a dead man. Next, he looked through the applications, finding only three. A texting app, a pictures fold, and sudoku of all things. Opening the photo file labeled “Encouragement.” Ashe felt his heart stop. All the pictures were of his family and Byleth. There was one of Austin on his date, Abby at the library, Christophe in the courtyard at the hospital, and one of Byleth and him at the café. There had to be dozens of pictures in there.

It wasn’t like Ashe needed a reminder of what was at stake here. If he didn’t help these Ashen Wolves, as they called themselves, he was putting his family in danger. If Dimitri and the other Blue Lions found out his was helping another group, Ashe felt the urge to vomit at the thought. Dimitri was not the most understanding of guys. Ashe drain a four beer as a text came in. The contact appeared as Byleth; a small selfie set as her icon. “Had fun tonight! See you soon ;)” That didn’t seem like Byleth how would. Ashe imagined she was more of a phone call type of person. Obviously, they were using the pretense of dating to hide their true meaning. ‘Fine.’ Ashe was feeling a little too brave after those very strong beers and replied with an eggplant emoji. Anyone who read those texts would think he lost his mind. That was the first eggplant emoji he ever used in his life! But Ashe was a little tipsy and a lot pissed. Whoever was texting him must have figured that out and sent back a laughing cry face. Ashe shoved the phone into the bottom of his bag and cleaned up the bottle and leftover dishes. When Ashe finally got to bed, he didn’t even take his clothes off, just choosing to faceplant on top of the covers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who's reading this story. The main reason I chose the title (besides tried to write a heist story) was it became an inside(ish) joke between my fiance and I. Before Covid-19, we would sometimes find ourselves at the grocery store late at night standing in front of the frozen pizza section. We'd looked each other in the eye and I would say "You son of a bitch! I'm in." Then we'd high five and get like ten Jack's pizzas. I hope you're still enjoying this and I really appreciate all the kudos and comments!


	5. Chapter 5

Ashe spent the weekend looking over his shoulder. Austin and Abby could pick on his unease, but luckily, they didn’t question it. Monday morning was the worst. Ashe pulled up to the school and glanced around, looking for any menacing black vans. “Hey, I have a student council meeting after school, is it okay if Francesca brings me home?” Abby leaned up in to the front seat. Ashe felt a cold shiver run down his back. “I’ll come pick up you. Just text me when you’re almost done.” Abby gave him a confused look. “That’s silly, you never minded her giving me rides before.” Even Austin gave Ashe a weird look. 

“I mean I’ll already be coming back to pick up Austin from volleyball practice. We can wait for you.” Austin coughed and rubbed his neck. “Actually, Simon wanted to go to the arcade after practice for a while. I promise I’ll be back in time for curfew!” Ashe was fighting a panic attack. “Guys, I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s a school night.” “Come on, you’re being ridiculous. I’ll be home in time of dinner.” Abby shock his headrest. “Yeah, and its never bothered you before when I was late after practice.” Ashe tapped the stirring wheeled in thought. 

He really didn’t have any good reason to stop them, at least one he took talk about. “Fine, but you better text me when you leave, where you are, and when you’re heading home. Okay?” Ashe made sure to look them both in the eye. “Promise, thank you!” Abby throw her arms around the driver seat to hug Ashe. Austin was already out the door. “Thanks!” Ashe watched them head off to school. He pulled the burner phone out of his pants pocket. No new pictures showed up in the cloud photo folder. The feeling of panic didn’t dissipate though. 

\------

Work was horrible, emails and meetings took up too much of his time. Ashe avoided going to the café, he wasn’t ready for another chance encounter. But it left him with a guilty feeling in the pity of his stomach. Ashe picked at one of the sweet buns he ordered in. He wasn’t very hungry anymore. Ashe turned back to work in an attempt to distract himself. That didn’t work either. Ashe signed and pulled out a file from his bag. Flipping through some blueprints in the folder, Garreg Mach museum was laid out before him in white lines. Ashe tried to make notes on the blueprints based on what he could remember from what little bit Yuri showed him. Ashe stared at the white lines until his eyes crossed.  
Looking at the clock on the wall, Ashe realized he only wasted twenty minutes. Ashe throw himself back in his chair and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. Maybe he should have gone to the café. At least it would have taken an extra ten minutes round trip. Ashe reached for his mint tea as he gave one more cursory glance at the blueprints when something caught his eye. A weird rectangle shape at the back of the building. There was no way to access it, but the way it was drawn, Ashe knew it was had to be sort of elevator. “What the Hell?” Ashe bend over the page and traced the page. How had he missed that?! Ashe flipped through the other blueprints. None of the others had the rectangle.  
Ashe picked up the burner. He twisted it in his hand. He didn’t know if he should contact them, but he kind of needed to look at those schematics again. Ashe throw the phone on his desk. He would figure it out later. Ashe took an anger bite of a sweet bun. Chewing it over, Ashe decided he would wait until he talked about his finding with the Blue Lions. Maybe Annette could pull something out of her computer. 

\------

Abby texted him she was on her way home. She was cutting it close; dinner would be ready soon. Ashe aggressively stirred the pot of stew he was making. He was on edge all day and Abby being late was making it worse. Ashe set the table for two. As long as Austin stayed with Simon in a crowded place, he should be okay. Ashe wrung his hands as he waited for Abby. Ashe sat at his usual spot, his head in his hands. Suddenly the alarm system went off. Ashe jumped to his feet and ran to the sink where a hand gun was stashed behind the plumbing.

“Sorry!” Abby’s voice come from the foyer. “I thought I had it right, but I guess not.” Abby skipped into the kitchen. Ashe slumped against the sink. “Please try to remember next time, I about had a heart attack.” Ashe chuckled at her. “How was your meeting?” Ashe served up dinner and they chatted about her day. After Abby finished her chorus and Ashe help her with homework, they retired to the living room to play video games. Shortly after nine the alarms went off again. Both Abby and Ashe jumped out of their skins. “Stay here.” Ashe pushed her to the ground, letting the couch hide her from view. Ashe stealthy stalked through the hall. There was a gun in the grandfather clock if he could get to it. 

“Shit!” A bump came from the kitchen. Ashe recognized that voice. “Austin?!” “Shit!” Another bump. Ashe straightened up and stormed in to where Austin was mucking about. “You’re late! Curfew was ten minutes ago!” Ashe’s heart was pounding in his chest. “And I never got a text from you. Do you know how irresponsible you were being!” Ashe was shaking. “I’m sorry, I just lost track of time.” Austin tried to push past Ashe to the fridge. “I don’t think you know how serious this is, you promised me you would keep me informed.” Ashe grabbed Austin’s arm. “Hey, I’m only ten minutes late. It’s not that big of a deal.” “Not a big deal, we were worried about you. What if something happened.” Ashe was yelling now. Abby stood in the doorway. “Ashe, its okay. He’s home safe and sound.” She was trying to be the voice of reason. “What is you’re problem! I said I was sorry and I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again. Okay!” Austin was getting upset now. Ashe was a combination scared and angry. “You cannot have the car for prom!” Ashe snarled at his baby bother. The look on Austin’s face broke Ashe’s heart. “You are not dad and you are not Lonato!” Austin shoved Ashe hard and ran out of the room. That stung Ashe more that he realized. Tears prickled his eyes. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, but you need to figure it out before you push us away.” Abby turned to followed Austin.  
Ashe fell into a chair at the table. He knew he took out his emotions on Austin, but he didn’t know what to do. How was he suppose to tell his family they were being followed by dangerous people? Especially, when he promised Abby he was done with that life. Ashe silently cried into the night.

\------

Wednesday dinner was still awkward. Austin refused to talk to Ashe since Monday and Abby couldn’t carry the conversation by herself. Ashe was feeling more stressed than ever. Ashe’s Friday were taken up by the Blue Lions and he got a text that day for a “date night” on Saturday. So, he wasn’t very talkative tonight. Soon after dinner Abby and Austin went to their rooms, too emotionally drained to pretend to be happy. Ashe decided to work on figuring out the mystery rectangle for the rest of the night.

Dredging over to the office, Ashe pushed open the door and stopped dead in his tracks. Seating at his desk was Byleth. She had her long legs propped on his desk, drinking one of his beer, and reading his copy of “Loog and the Maiden of the Wind.” Ashe couldn’t stop the mental note of her outfit, black leather pants and a black leather jacket. Ashe didn’t know if his face was getting hot for a blush or from anger. She looked up at him, taking a sip of the beer. “I have never read this one. It’s pretty good.” 

Ashe quickly shut the door and locked it. “How did you get in here?” Ashe fell into the one of the chairs in front of the desk. “Through the garage. You should probably update your password rotation.” Ashe put that comment away for later. “Why are you here?” Byleth swirled the beer around in the bottle as she thought about it. “I wanted to apologize for what happened last week. If I had known, I wouldn’t have let Yuri get to you.” She put her legs down and put the bottle on top of the desk. “I never wanted to involve anyone in this.” She looked up to hold his gaze again.

Ashe stared back. He was upset, but he couldn’t bring himself to be mad at her. He wanted to believe her. “How can I trust you?” Byleth’s nose slightly twitched. “I guess that’s why I’m here.” She looked off towards the bookcases, before getting up and putting the book back. “Since I know so much about you, I thought I should tell you about myself. So, what do you want to know?” Byleth ran her fingers along the spine of the book. Ashe didn’t think about it that long. “Why are you working with them?” Byleth signed and crossed her arms. “Aelfric, the one paying for this job, has information that I need. He promised to give it to me if I can help him get the chalice.” “What could possibly be that important that you would work with those sleezy bags?” Byleth flinched at the question. “They aren’t that bad. From what I know, we all want something from Aelfric or owe him something.”  
Ashe took a moment to think about what he wanted to know next. “Why me though?” Ashe stood up and walked over to her. She refused to look at him for a bit as she poked at the books for a second. “I guess because I might have flirted with you a bit too much and I might think you’re cute.” Her big purple eyes were mostly black with how dilated they were. Ashe took a tentative step forward. They were barely a breath apart. Ashe’s feelings were confused. He wanted to be mad, but he’d be a hypocrite if he didn’t at least understand what it meant to feel coerced into a job. Not to mention that fact someone he had barely knew could make him feel this way. Byleth bite her lip. Ashe caught her briefly glance to his lips before looking back into his eyes. The heat in his body flared up. Ashe took the last step closer, she met him half way. 

Ashe’s chest felt tight as his lips crashed against hers. Ashe wrapped his arms around her, pushing her into the bookcase. Byleth’s hands slide up his chest to tangle in his hair and deepened the kiss. Ashe bite her lip lightly, enough to draw a moan from her. It became feverish as Ashe twirled his tongue against hers. She tasted sweet like honey. Ashe felt her hip mold against his. Sliding his hands up under her shirt, Ashe felt the clasp of her belt. The square metal sat snuggling against her right hip. With the slightest movement of his fingers, Ashe knew he could undo the it. Ashe pulled back with a lightning strike of understanding. “The entrance slides open!” Byleth looks at him with strange confusion.  
Ashe stumbled over to his bag and pulled out the blueprints. He flipped through the pages until he found the one with the elevator. Ashe unfolded it on to the desk. Tracing his figure over the wall closed to the backup generator. “I bet you anything that that generator’s solo purpose is to keep that door operational.” Byleth came up behind him and rested her hand on his shoulder as she leaned over to look at the blueprints. She continued to trace the path past where Ashe stopped. “That’s the only generator on this wall. If you’re right, then if power goes down, there’s nothing to keep the security operational. And look what side it’s on!” Ashe tilled angled his head to look at the big picture. “The east side! But the question becomes…” “Why just that elevator?” 

“The museum was built on an old monastery, so there could be anything down there.” Byleth tapped her fingers on the blueprint. “Do you have an idea what century?” Ashe walked back to one end of the bookshelf. “If I had to guess, maybe hundred A.S. based on the older parts of the museum.” Ashe grabbed a book on early architecture. “Here.” Ashe flipped it open to floor layouts for churches and religious building. Byleth lined the book up with the blueprint. “It must be the holy mausoleum.” “It has to be deep underground, meaning you couldn’t even wrap out.” Byleth scanned the blueprint before flipping through another one and overlaying on top. “Look, this is where the gala is being held.” Ashe followed her line of thinking. “So, if there is a power outage, the relics will be moved to the holy mausoleum.” Byleth smiled at him, Ashe felt heat rushed to his face. It felt like they were solving some great puzzle. Ashe wanted to laugh at how much fun it was. The push and pull of working together.

In a blink, they were kissing again. Ashe picked her up on to the desk. Byleth pushed the contents of the desk out of the way. She tugged on his shirt, while he gripped her hips. If the last kiss was heated, this one was pure fire. Ashe slide a hand down one of her thighs to wrap her leg around his hip. Byleth snaked her hands up his back, her figure tips digging into his skin to pull him closer. Ashe gripped the back of her neck to keep her lips on his. She licked his lower lip to deepen their kiss. He was getting light headed, but he didn’t care. Ashe needed more. 

There was a creak upstairs that caused them to jump apart. Someone was coming down the stairs. Ashe quickly tugged his shirt down and ran a hand throw his hair. Turning to the desk, Byleth was gone and a gentle breeze come through the now open window. Ashe spun around at a knock at the door. “Come in.” He busied himself picking up the spilled papers and files, trying to get his heart calm down. The door raddled and Ashe cursed himself for forgetting he locked it. Ashe quickly opened the door and continued on with what he was doing.

Austin poked this head in the room. “Hey.” Ashe straightened up to give Austin his full attention. “Can I talk to you?” “Sure, come in.” Ashe piled up everything one of the chairs. Austin sat down in the other. “What happened?” “Uh, I spilled something on my desk, I’m just cleaning up.” Austin stuck his hands between his knees and rubbed them together. “I wanted to say I’m sorry. About what I said the other day.” He was not making eye contact with Ashe. “I didn’t mean it. I guess I just got caught up in being with Simon that I forgot I made you a promise.” Ashe signed, flopping down into his desk chair. “No, you’re right. I’m not dad or Lonato. I guess I felt like I’ve had to be the one to step up and I guess I forgot that I’m your brother first.” They sat there in silence for a minute. “You know as your old brother, I’m kind of suppose to be a bad influence on you.” Ashe reached down in to the mini fridge door and pulled out two of the lite beers and twisted the caps off.  
Austin took the one Ashe held out to him tentatively. “So, you really like this Simon guy?” Ashe took a swig “I do. He’s smart and funny and I mean…”. Austin took a sip and winched. Ashe chuckled. “Do you know want his plans for after high school is?” “He got in to UF too.” Austin softly blushed as he smiled. “He wants to be a doctor.” Ashe was really happy for him. “Well, maybe I could let you have the car, if your courting a future doctor.” Ashe took another drink and winked at his bother, as Austin smile became impossibly wide. “Really?!” “Only if you promise me, you’ll be safe and text me this time.” “I promise!” Ashe held out his drink for Austin to cheers. They finished their beers talking about relationships and Austin’s future. 

After Austin went to bed, Ashe finished cleaning up his stuff. As he put the blueprint folder in his bag, Ashe notice a purple hotel key card sticking out of the file. Shiny gold letters spelled out Gloucester Towers, one of the fanciest hotel changes in all of Fodlan. Memories for what happened earlier flood his mind. Ashe pocketed it and went to his room. Ashe took a shower to relieve some tension before going to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once you become an adult being an older sibling is weird. You want to be their friend, but at the same time you want to stop them from hitting on the bartender at the hole-in-the-wall bar cause you know its going to end badly either way. You're not the parent, but your not exactly their friend. They've seen you mess up, so they know you're an idiot and they think they can do it better. Truth, is you're both wrong and neither of you know what you're doing. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is smut at the end. Feel free to skip it, I put in some markers to let you know.

Saying Ashe was stressed on Friday was an understatement. Standing before one of the chalk boards, Ashe hung up the blueprints and presented his new plan. “Based on the research I did this week. I think this would be the best course of action.” Ashe wrung his hands. Dimitri watched silently in a dark corner. If he didn’t like the plan, Ashe was screwed. “So basically, we just need to get someone down there, cut the power, snag the Areadbahar, and get out of there.” Sylvain rested his head back against his arms and lend into the couch he was sitting in. “It’s not actually that easy, if Ashe can find this, it’s only a matter of time before the other teams figure it out too.” Ingrid crossed her arms and gave Sylvain a flat stare. “Not to mention I need to figure out what kind of security the Holy Mausoleum is packing. I think I need to do another scan for that.” Annette rested her cheek on her fist in contemplation. 

Dimitri growled from where he stood, Dedue took a small step closer to him. Ashe was starting to sweat, heavily. “I trust that Ashe will come up with the best plan to ensure our success.” Mercedes sat on the couch with her hands in her lap, as straight as an arrow. She gave Ashe a small nod of encouragement. “This will work, we just need to fine tune it a bit.” “The gala is next Saturday. We have one week to ‘fine tune’ this new plan.” Felix did not look impressed at the situation. “It will work, I trust Ashe.” Dimitri stalked over to Ashe to tower over him. “Because he won’t want to find out what will happen if he fails.” Dimitri looked very calm except for the twitching of his good eye. Ashe was glad he didn’t have that extra tea at lunch, or else he as sure he would have wet himself by now. “Get it done.” Ashe gulped and gave Dimitri a nod. 

Ashe shuffled around the very scary man with the eye patch and took his seat on the couch while Ingrid got up. She was just giving more information on the guest list and potential rivals. The pinup board was starting to fill up more photos and names. There was no photo over Byleth’s name and Ashe wasn’t jumping at the chance to provide one, even if he had a phone with dozens of pictures of her in his pocket. “Can we do another stake out tomorrow? It would be the best time for me, I’ll probably need to be near the door for a while if it’s really as deep as you say.” Ashe tilted his head just enough to look at her with his peripherals. “Um, tomorrows no good.” “What? Why not?” “I…I… um…” How was he supposed to tell her he’s meeting up with their mystery woman and her team? “Ashe has a date.” Mercedes giggled as she too leaned into the conversation. Felix faced scrunched up in annoyance. “I’ll take you.” “Can we get dinner after? Let’s make it a date night too! We haven’t gone on one of those in forever.” This was a bit of a whirlwind for Ashe, but luckily Annette didn’t question him further about this supposed date. Ashe gave Mercedes a silent “thank you.” 

Later, when Ashe left the warehouse, Mercedes came up next to him as he was unlocking his car. “So, are you meeting up with Byleth this weekend?” Ashe had a full body spasm and dropped his keys. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Oh Ashe, you don’t stutter like that unless there’s a girl involved.” Mercedes giggle at her flushed friend. “What, I do not?!” “Yes, you do. Last time we went for drinks and there was that busty brunette.” Mercedes gave him a knowing smile. “Not that I can blame you, she was very beautiful. But every time you tried to speak to her, I don’t think you got out a full sentence.” Ashe felt his face heat up, he didn’t remember that night. “Get in, I need your advice.” Ashe unlocked the car and slide into the driver seat. 

Ashe drove them to a park. Getting out, he made sure to leave both his phones in the car. Sitting on a bench, Ashe told Mercedes everything that happened in the past week. She sat there quietly and listened to the whole story before saying anything. “Ashe, I’m so sorry.” She pulled a muffin out of her purse and handed it to him. Ashe took a stress bite of the purse muffin. Lemon poppyseed, it was baked to perfection and it made him feel a lot better. “I don’t know what to do.” “Well, I think after the mission, you should ask her out on an official date.” Ashe gave her a bewildered look and took another bite of the muffin. “Well what about the fact that my family is endanger if I can’t pull off multiple heists without the others finding out?” “You can do this. Remember when we did the Myrddin job? I botched the operation when I blow out the wrong support structure. You not only managed to get us all out of there, but you were still able to get that Talisman. You have yet to fail a job.” Ashe had to chuckle at the memory and finished the muffin. “I’ll cover for you.” Mercedes shoulder her purse. “Why?” Ashe asked through a mouth full of muffin. “Because you’re my friend.” She extended her hand out to help him up. “And if you screw this up, maybe I’ll shoot my shot with this mystery woman of you.” Mercedes gave him a wink. Ashe stumbled after her back to the car.

-

Saturday evening, Ashe handed the keys over to Austin. Abby agreed to take Austin tux shopping and Ashe fed them the same line about a date. Abby was too excited and spent the afternoon dressing Ashe up in the prefect outfit for a “coffee date.” Ashe took the train into town. He was tapping his foot the whole time. Arriving at the meeting point, Ashe stood under a lamp post waiting for Balthus. A black SUV pulled up. “Hey pal, ready to go?” Balthus jumped out of the backseat. Ashe rolled his eyes and waited for the black bag treatment. It went a lot smoother when he didn’t struggle. 

Once again Ashe found himself sitting in the chair, this time untied. Byleth stood by his side this time. She glared at Yuri, keeping herself between Ashe and the purple-haired asshat. Ashe did his best to look menacing too. She was much better at it than he was. “Let’s get to work.” Yuri smirked at them. The next hour or so, Ashe gave the same spiel that he gave the Blue Lions. Yuri paced back and forth in thought. “Alright, but you have to be the one in the vault.” “What?! No, I have way more experience with this sort of thing.” Byleth stepped up again. “No, I think he needs to be the one to do this. You will be on coms to walk him through it.” Ashe stood there in silence as they fought it out. Mercedes words echoed in his mind. “I…I can do it.” Ashe took Byleth’s hand without thinking. She turned to him full for the first time that evening. “You heard him. Have more confidence in your boytoy, friend.” Yuri walked over to look at something on the tablet Constance held out. Byleth stared Ashe dead in the eyes. “You don’t have to do this.” “I do actually. Besides you got my back, right?” Ashe rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. “How can you trust me?” Ashe took a moment to really think about it. This woman came into his life less than a month ago, but for some reason Ashe completely trusted her.

It was strange really. Every time someone came into Ashe’s life at the right moment, it changed everything. Lonato found him right when Ashe needed him. Sylvain surprisingly found Ashe after Lonato’s death, Mercedes found him when the crime world got too tough, and now Byleth found him when Ashe needed to pull off the biggest job in his life. If the goddess was trying to give Ashe a sign, this was it. 

Ashe gave her hand a squeeze. “If you can trust me, then I can trust you.” A soft pink dusted her stoic face. If it wasn’t for a slight twitch of her nose, Ashe would have thought it was a trick of the light. “Fine. But I’m running point on this. No debate.” Byleth didn’t break eye contact with him as she yelled over to Yuri. Balthus barked out a laugh and Hapi stretched her arms. “Well, Yuri-bird, Chatterbox and Freckles are calling the shots now.” Tilting her head towards Ashe, Hapi gave him the up down. “If your mob mom can’t cook up a strong enough explosion, let me know. I’ve been waiting a long time to show that museum’s director not to mess with the Ashen Wolves.” Hapi stood up and let out a deep sigh. The two dogs sleeping at her feet jumped up and followed her up the stairs. 

Yuri did not look happy. Constance stood close to him and held his elbow. “Just make sure you know what you’re doing. Aelfric is not be happy about the situation.” Byleth gave a curt nod. “Alright pal, time to go.” Ashe didn’t move as Balthus pulled the bag over his head. The last time he saw was Byleth’s eyes.

-

Balthus dumped Ashe off at the station, literally. Ashe picked himself up and shook the dust from his jacket. He descended the steps with the rest of the night crowd. Ashe slide his ticket in the turnstile and stood at the platform. He kept an eye out for anyone watching. Once Ashe was sure he wasn’t being watched, he boarded the train, immediately exited the other side, and headed west. The hotel keycard tightly in his grip. 

Gloucester Towers was an impressive building. Roses lines the entry way. Gold and purple displayed the wealth of the place. Ashe felt like an imposter as he got on the elevator and hit the top floor button. He really didn’t know what he was doing here. He had an idea of what he was doing here, but he was still nervous about the whole situation. All too soon, Ashe found himself standing in front of the door that the keycard would open. Taking a deep breath, Ashe slide the card into the scanner and a soft click let him in.  
The room was dark. Floor to ceiling windows showed a breathtaking view of the city skyline, which gave off most of the light in the room. The only other light came from beneath the bathroom door. Ashe shut the door behind him and made his way toward a table, set with champagne. He put down his bag and took off his jacket. Pouring himself a drink, Ashe downed it to settle his nerves. He set the glass back on the table. Ashe wasn’t sure what to do with his hands.

The door to the bathroom opened. Byleth stood there in a fluffy robe; her hair done up in a bun. Steam from the bathroom spilled out into the main bedroom. “I didn’t think you would come.” “I… I don’t think I could stay away.” Damn it. Ashe cringed at his own words. It made him think of Sylvain. Byleth bite her lip trying not to laugh. She poured them another drink. They talked for a while and it helped Ashe calm down a bit. Eventually the conversation turned to talking shop. “Your plan is good, really good. Though, I still think I should be in the vault. No offense, but I’m more flexible.” Ashe finished the last of his champagne. “I have this weird feeling that I need to say I have a longer reach.” The biggest smile Ashe had ever seen on a person spread across her face. “You are such a dork.” Her laughter was so genuine, it was contagious. It was getting hard to breath as Ashe laughed along with her. 

Ashe wiped his eyes as he settled down. He realized how close they were. The shoulder of the robe fell slightly, exposing Byleth’s neck and shoulder. Ashe’s mouth felt dry. Biting his lip was the wrong move, since Byleth caught the action. In a beat, she pushed up against him. The same dark lust from Wednesday filling her eyes. This time she pulled him in for a kiss. 

******

This kiss made his chest tighten and his hips thrust against her. Byleth hummed in approval. Ashe pulled her hair out of the bun and grabbed a hand full. He felt feral. The smell of spice and vanilla overwhelmed him. Ashe kissed along her jaw down her neck. Byleth let out a moan which only spurred Ashe on. He pulled the robe open, exposing her breasts. The sight of them gave Ashe pause to admire them. Byleth used Ashe’s awe to her advantage ripped his shirt open. Buttons spilled to the floor. Byleth kissed Ashe deeply as she slid her hands up his torso over his shoulders to remove his shirt. Ashe left her partially undress him before picking her up and carrying her to the bed. Laying her down, he managed to get the robe completely off Byleth now.

Hovering over her, once again Ashe was at a loss. She was beautiful, the most beautiful woman Ashe had under him like this. Her dark hair framing her face, purple eyes filled with hunger as she looked up at him. Her pale skin seemed to glow from the soft light pouring in through the windows. He didn’t even know what to do. Byleth must have sensed his hesitation because she pushed up on her elbows and gave him a confused look. “I don’t do this, I’ve never… I…” Ashe had to look away to hide his embarrassment. “Are you a virgin?” “What? No! I mean I’ve been… I’ve had sex before. I’ve just never been with someone like this before, it’s just happening so fast.” Ashe rested back on his knees to let her sit up. He felt very foolish. He just wished he had the nerve to just go for it, but the last person Ashe had been with was Marianne and that was a while ago. Even then they had always gone slow, neither of them completely comfortable with their own bodies. “Hey, I don’t want to push you into anything. We can stop.” She cupped his face with her hands, pulling him from his thoughts.

“No, I want to be with you. I just don’t know where to begin.” Ashe pulled her into his lap. “You kind of make me crazy, I’ve never connected with someone so fast before.” “We can slow down.” Byleth kissed along his neck and Ashe shivered. “No, please. I… I want to keep going.” She used her weight to flip them, Ashe let his head flop down on the pillows. Byleth kissed him again, slower this time but no less passionately, before pulling back to search his eyes. The warmth and patience Ashe saw in hers gave him another surge of courage. Ashe recaptured her lips. Byleth softly nipped at his bottom lip. She peppered kisses along his jaw. Ashe trembled and dug his fingers into the mattress to steady himself. She continued to kiss along his neck, her lips on his skin felt electric. “Do you want me to take the lead?” Ashe groaned as she nipped his ear. “Yes, please.” “Let me know if you get uncomfortable, okay?” Ashe nodded with a moan. 

Ashe squirmed at the tight feeling in his pant. Byleth moved her way down his body, sucking and kissing as she went. She unbuttoned his jeans and bite his hip as she pulled them down. This elicited another thrust from him. Byleth swirled her tongue along Ashe’s flesh as she moved closer his erection. Ashe’s breath caught in his throat at the feeling. He peaked through one eye to watch her. Byleth gave him a heated look and a wink before taking the tip of his cock in her mouth. “Fuck!” Ashe let his head drop into the pillows.   
Byleth ran her tongue along the underside, curling it up over the tip. It was slow, thought out, and with just the right amount of pressure. Ashe bite his lip to hold back a moan. A soft hum let Ashe know she was enjoying his reactions. He fisted the sheets tighter. Slowing taking him in her mouth more, Byleth pushed the flat of her tongue along the sensitive underside of his cock and sinking further down. Ashe moaned; the heat of her mouth was intense. She was teasing him, and Ashe was loving it. 

Byleth straddled one of his legs. Picking up her pace, she rubbed herself against Ashe’s thigh in time with the bob of her head. Ashe risked a peek. The sight of Byleth working herself up on him, was an unbelievably hot. Hitting the back of her throat and feeling another flick of her tongue filled Ashe’s veins with molten lust. Ashe moaned again; he didn’t think he could last much longer. That moment Byleth popped off him to crawl her way up his body. “Still good?” “Uh-huh.” Ashe’s breath was too labored to give a real answer.   
Byleth leaned forward to rest her hands on the headboard. Running on primal instinct, Ashe reached up cup her large breast in his hands. Ashe gave them a firm squeeze and pushed them together. “You could kill a person with these.” Ashe felt his face catch fire and a jolt of embarrassment shot down his spine. He knew his eyes had to be huge as he looked to Byleth to make sure he didn’t ruin the mood. She bit her lip to suppress some giggles, but she took his wrists to pull his hands away to prevent Ashe from hiding his face. She sank her chest down to smother his face. Ashe was correct. She could kill him like this, and he would die happy. 

Ashe was overwhelmed with the need to run his tongue along the valley of her supple skin. This made her whimper and release his hands. Ashe immediately put them back on her breast. He couldn’t help but massage and suck on them. He was never one for a particular body part, but Byleth’s chest had a magnetic pull on him. Even though Ashe wasn’t sure if what he was doing, it seemed to be working. Byleth panted and moaned, shifted her hips along his abdomen in an attempt to get friction against her clit. Ashe knew he wasn’t the most ripped guy, but he still maintained a physique that had the hint of abs. The way Byleth squirmed and gasped against him, gave Ashe a strange satisfaction.   
Ashe let one of his hands skimmed down her body until he reached the apex of her sex. He teased his fingers to allowed him access to her. Byleth was wet and he was able to sink two fingers into her folds. Byleth gave breathy cry and began to move herself against his hand. In response, Ashe gave her nipple a love bite and flick his tongue against the sensitive bud. As Byleth sank fully against his fingers, he curled them. “Ashe!” The breathy scream Byleth gave as her walls contracted around on his figure did things to him.   
A feral need built in his gut. Ashe rolled them over to brush his cock along her entrance. “Yes.” She gave him a husky consent and that was all it took. Ashe thrust into her and it took his breath away. She tilted her hips slightly and gave him a quick squeeze with her thighs, encouraging Ashe to move. 

Goddess, it had been too long. But Ashe was certain sex had never been like this before. A bloom of confidence was growing along side knot of pleasure. He did his best to keep a steady rhythm. Her warm, tight walls surrounding him. He sped up. “Ashe!” She let out a gasp as he angled himself to get deeper inside her. Byleth locked her legs around his waist. He took the opportunity to run one his hand along her leg and take a hand full of her thick, tight ass, pulling her closer. Ashe was losing himself in her and needed to steady himself with his other arm. The hot coil of pleasure built hotter within him. Not knowing what else to do, Ashe smashed his lips on to hers. With one more deep thrust, Byleth arched her back, pushing her torso against him, digging her nails into his back, and climaxed with a cry of ecstasy against his lips. Ashe wasn’t far behind. With a deep moan, Ashe pulled out and came on her stomach.

Once he caught his breath, the realization of what happen hit him. Ashe ran to the bathroom to get a warm washcloth. “Sorry.” Ashe began to wipe Byleth down, trying to be as gentle as possible. “Hey, it’s okay. Come here.” She took the washcloth from him and tossed it to the side. She pulled him to her and laid his head on her chest. “We need to do that again.” Without looking, Ashe could hear the smile in her voice. “I would like that.” He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. “Can you stay?” She ran her hand through his hair. Sleep tugged at the corner of his mind. “I should at least text my sister to let her know.” “Okay.” Byleth untangled herself from him to help him up. Ashe stumbled over to his bag and grabbed his normal phone. ‘I won’t be home tonight, don’t wait up.’ Not even a second later, Abby sent him a thumbs up and a winky face. Ashe set the phone on the table and crawled back into bed.

*****

Ashe scooped Byleth up in his arms, she snuggled up against him, and they entwined their legs. It had never been this easy for Ashe to cuddle someone. She let out a sign of contentment when Ashe kissed her forehead. “Um… I guess, are we… is this going to be a thing?” Ashe couldn’t bring himself to look at her. He feared the answer. People don’t just date in the criminal scene. Sure, Felix and Annette were together, for now, and Dimitri had Dedue, though that was far from the healthiest relationship Ashe has ever seen. “I’ve just never done a… um… I’ve always been…” Byleth propped herself up to look him in the eye. “I knew the second I saw you, you’re not a ‘one-night stand’ kind of guy.” Ashe felt the need to look away. “I’d like this to be a thing.” She titled his head up to force Ashe to make eye contact. “If that’s okay with you?” Ashe swallowed the lump forming in his throat. “After the job, can I take you on a real date. I mean you can still wear black leather if you like.” Ashe let himself smile even though he knew he had to be beet red. Byleth laughed and cuddle into him. “Deal.” Ashe pulled the covers up over them as he kissed her until they fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am Ashe, Ashe is me, and we still don't know what to do with our hands. I rewrote this chapter, I was just so unhappy with it.


	7. Chapter 7

Ashe woke up the next morning a little groggy. He buried his face into the fluffy pillow and stretched out in search of Byleth. When he felt himself to be alone, Ashe lifted himself up. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Ashe found a spare robe at the foot of the bed. Sliding on the plush fabric and tying it shut, Ashe walked through the hotel room to the balcony. Byleth was sitting at the patio table in her own plush robe. Ashe sat down next to her. The table was filled with an assortment of breakfast foods and Byleth’s plate for stacked high with waffles soaked in syrup and peanut butter. “Good morning. I hope you don’t mind, but I sent your clothes down to be mended and laundered.” She took a large bite of her breakfast. Ashe hadn’t even notice they were missing. “That’s fine.” He poured himself some tea and filled a plate with toast and bacon.

They sat there for a while just eating and talking. They argued about video games, discussed their favorite books, and at one-point Byleth got up to do her high school cheer routine after Ashe double-dog dared her. It led to a fit of laughter. The mood turned somber when they started talking about their childhoods. Ashe told her about his parents’ deaths, his life of crime, and being adopted. Byleth spoke about her dad being deployed for most of her informative years. How in retaliation, she got her own record. Eventually, Ashe had to ask about Aelfric. Byleth took a sip of her coffee and paused before answering. “My mom left when I was little. I have no memories of her. Apparently, she was really naïve when she was young and got mixed up with some dangerous people.” Byleth swirled her drink. “Dad was convinced she was dead, he told me she was always worried about her past catching up with them.” Ashe felt sympathy for this woman. He was constantly worried about his own family. There had been more sleepless night than Ashe could count, panicking about the police or an old crew coming for him. “Anyway, after dad dead five years ago, Aelfric found me. He said he had information about my mom. If I do some jobs for him, he said he would help me find her.” Byleth set her cup down and with a huff, flopped further into her chair. 

Ashe held out his hand for her. Byleth gave it a glance before taking it. Ashe gave her his best reassuring smile. Her eyes glistened for a moment before she blinked quickly. Leaning in, Byleth kissed him. Her lips were sweet and sticky from maple syrup. Ashe deepened the kiss, daring to bite her bottom lip. Byleth gave a soft hum of excitement. “Unless you’re feeling very bold, why don’t we go back inside.” Ashe could feel her smirking against his skin. Ashe took a moment to look around. It was still early morning and they were the only balcony on this floor. However, the railing was made of glass and the apartment building across the street had a very clear view. The kisses Byleth peppered along his neck made Ashe want to be bold, but his hesitation must have revealed his true feelings. Byleth got up and took his hand to pull Ashe back inside. They spent the rest of the morning fooling around in the room and some very memorable shower sex. 

Brushing his teeth with a spare hotel toothbrush, Ashe watch Byleth through the mirror. She was applying makeup. She seemed so engrossed in what she was doing. Her hands moved with the precision of a practiced artist as she used the pencils and powders. She titled her head to the right when she was thinking about something. Byleth signed through her nose when she recapped her mascara. She finished up with a swipe of light pink lipstick and a smack of her lips. Flipping her hair and tousling it roughly, Byleth made eye contact with Ashe through the mirror and gave him a wink. He realized he had finished brushing his teeth a while ago and was staring. But she was just to pretty not too.   
Byleth reached up on her toe to plant a kiss on his cheek before leaving to get dressed. Ashe quickly rinsed his mouth and used a towel to wipe the prefect pink stamp of Byleth’s lips off his face and looked in the mirror to study his own features. The flush on his round cheeks really made his freckle pop and his too large green eyes gave him babyface. The silver mop of hair on his head was as unruly as ever, especially as it dried out and floated around in the humidity of the bathroom. Ashe did his best to flatten his hair, tucking the longer locks behind his ear. He might need a haircut soon.

There was a knock at the door. Ashe could here Byleth talking to whoever stop by. He waited until they left, seeing as how he didn’t have any clothes to wear. Once he came out of the bathroom, Ashe found clothes laid out on the bed. Byleth was sitting next to them, zipping up a pair of high heeled boots. “They weren’t able to fix your shirt. Sorry.” Byleth looked away shyly. “I hope you don’t mind, I picked out something for you.” Ashe rubbed the white sweater between his fingers, it was so soft. “No, thank you.” Ashe gave her a kiss on the head. Byleth smiled softly before getting up, brushing out her long skirt. 

“I know you need to get home, but…” She started wringing her hands. “Would you like to get some coffee or something?” The way she fidgeted was cute and Ashe wasn’t ready to leave her just get. “Sure, I’d love too.” Ashe finished shoving his legs down his pants and started working on the blue button up. “Great! I know this place near the park, we could take a stroll.” She was grabbing her coat and purse. Ashe pulled the sweater over his head. Byleth helped put on his own coat. Ashe caught a glance of them in a decorative mirror. “You wear that sweater well.” Byleth hugged him from behind. Ashe watched himself blush in the mirror. She wasn’t wrong, Ashe looked more grown up. “Come on, cutie.” She went to open the door for him with a smile. Slipping on his shoes and grabbing his messenger bag, Ashe followed after her. 

Leaving the hotel, Byleth slide her hand into his and pulled Ashe around the city. They stopped to get hot coffees to keep back a late spring chill. Walking through the park, Byleth pointed out the little lake where children floated toy boats on the water. “Let’s get a boat!” Byleth’s eyes seemed to twinkled at the suggestion. Ashe simply nodded, grinning at her eagerness. “Okay, wait here. I’ll be right back.” She practically skipped to the boat rental stand. Ashe chuckled and took another drink of his coffee as he turned back to watch the wind push the toys across the water.

“Your girlfriend is a lovely young woman.” Ashe was startled by the man standing next to him. The man seemed to come out of nowhere. “Pardon me, I didn’t mean to scare you.” The man smirked. “Oh no, its fine. And she’s not um we’re not a couple, y…yet.” Ashe was trying to be polite, but this guy was giving him the creeps. The tall, lanky man wore a long overcoat with a matching wide brim fedora covering his long brown hair. Although not a suspicious outfit to wear in the cool weather, something about the man made it so. “Can I help you with something?” Ashe did his best to lean away discreetly. “No, I’m just checking on something. Have fun on your little date.” The man tipped his hat and walked away. Dread filled Ashe, that man was bad news.

Byleth hurried back to him with boat in hand a few moments later. “Come on, I got one.” Ashe was look around, trying to spot the man. But he disappeared into the crowd. She tucked his sleeve, getting his attention. “Hey, are you alright?” She tilted her head to look in his eyes. “Hum, oh yes. I’m okay.” Ashe pulled her in to a tight hug to calm his pounding heart. “Let’s put in the lake.” He kissed the top of her head before letting her go. They spent the remained of Ashe’s time steering the little toy boat across the rippling water. Yet Ashe could never shake the horrible feeling being watched.

The walked to the train station, Byleth hooked her arm in his to pull him close. “You’ve been awfully quiet since the park. I know something’s bothering you and I want to know what it is.” She continued to look slight ahead. Ashe could feel her negative emotions radiating of her. He had to come forward. “A weird guy talked to me while you were at the boat rental. It put me on edge. I’m sorry if it ruined your day.” She pulled him down a side alley. “A weird man?” “Yeah, he made a comment about you. It wasn’t technically threating, but he definitely creepy.” “And you didn’t recognize him?” Ashe just shook his head. Byleth scrunch her nose and her lip twitched as she looked around quickly.

Her face dropped into a neutral expression before she took his hand. They walked with purpose towards the train station. She led passed him the first one. Byleth tucked herself extremely close to Ashe’s side. To any unassuming passerby, they were just an over-affectionate couple. However, Byleth was whispering instructions to him. “Take the blue line to South Galatea, once there you’ll need to take the green line to West Church Town. Grab a cab to Rome. From there you can get home pretty easily.” “Why send me that way?” Ashe lend down to give her a kiss on the temple, both keeping up their ruse and calm his nerves. “One of Aelfric’s rivals blocks his influence down south. You should be able to lose any followers once you get close to the boarder.” 

They had walked for almost thirty minutes until Byleth okayed the station. She stopped them just outside the small brick building on the outskirts of Garreg Mach. It was so close to the mountain range; Ashe could make out structures tucked against the hills. “I’m sorry. I got selfish. I just wanted more time with you.” She placed her hands on his chest, just staring blindly at a spot on his sweater. Ashe wrapped her up in his arms. “I was selfish too. I don’t remember having this much fun with another adult in a long time.” He had to chuckle a little. Byleth looked up at him of a moment. She pressed a quick kiss on his lips before stepping back. With a quick nod, Byleth raced back up the street and Ashe could only watch her go.

Ashe entered the station and caught the first train on the blue line. Staring out the window, Ashe watched the mountains turn to flatlands. Herds of sheep roamed the grasses. A sense of disappointment washed of him. An amazing weekend, ending on a low note. 

It was midafternoon, but based on the route he was taking, Ashe would get home until after dark. Taking out his phone to call Abby, he saw a new contact. ‘B’ had sent him a text. “See you next Saturday. I’ll be the one in the dress.” Ashe had to reread the message; it didn’t make a lot of sense. Most woman at the gala would be wearing dresses, right? Was this an attempt at humor? The image of Byleth blank face, typing out what she thought would be a funny message, made Ashe smile to himself. It seems he had found his match at horrible jokes. “I’ll be the one in the waiter’s attire.” At that, Ashe called Abby to let her know he’d be home late… again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took awhile to get out there. Thank you for your patience!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to apologize for how long this chapter took. We decided to take on two life altering events these past few months and it's exhausting. I will work on updating faster!

Ashe was packing his work bag in his office. Abby was sitting on the second to bottom step grilling Simon at the front door. “So, where are you taking Austin for lunch?”

Ashe peeked out the door at the poor boy. Simon was a tall young man with dark blue hair and sharp cheekbones. He kept shifting back and forth on his toes. Apparently, the Ubert children have a thing for blue haired beauties. Ashe immediate mentally slapped himself for that awkward thought. 

“Um, we’re going to Maurice’s Pizzeria.” “Pizza, sounds fun.” Ashe could hear the aloofness in Abby’s voice. 

“Leave him alone.” Ashe shoulder his bag and joined the conversation. “It’s good to meet you, I’m Ashe.” Ashe reached out his hand to shake Simon’s. “Hi, yeah, um Simon.” Ashe gave him a reassuring smile. “And I take it, Abby has introduced herself.” 

Simon gave a soft chuckle. “Yeah, we were just getting to know each other.” 

Abby had a cheeky smile. “Simon, do you want to see some of Austin’s baby photos?” “Abby!” Austin came barreling down the stairs, hitting their sister in the head with his coat.  
Ashe caught the look on Simon’s face. He had the goofiest grin and a twinkle in his eye. Oh, he had it bad.

Ashe jingled the keys in his hand. “I need to get going. Abby don’t stay up too late and make sure you finish your laundry. You two have fun. I’ll be back tomorrow.”  
Austin was practically pushing Simon out the door. “Have fun at your work thing.” “It was nice meeting you.” Simon waved over his shoulder before Austin slammed the door behind them. 

Abby raised an eyebrow. “Yes, your work thing.” She leaned forward to fold her arms on her knees and gave Ashe a look. “Tell me again what this ‘work thing’ is.” 

Ashe pursed his lips in a tight smile before shaking his head. “Just a work thing, I’m meeting some friends for drinks after so that’s why I’m going to be gone all night.” Abby’s flat look told him she wasn’t buying it for a second. Ashe hunched his shoulders and marched off to the garage. 

Abby jumped and followed behind. “Ashe, you better not be getting into trouble! I swear to Sothis.” 

“I’ll be fine. It’s just a routine work thing.” Ashe got into the driver seat and buckled in. 

Abby prevented him from shutting the door. “If you don’t come home tomorrow, I will kick your ass.” She backed away and let Ashe shut the door. Abby stared him down, unblinking, as he pulled out. She was a little scary when she did that.

\-----

Ashe readjusted his tie, for the hundred time. He forced his best smiled as a fancy patron’s grabbed champaign flutes from the tray he was carrying. Ashe was positioned on the top stairwell, which gave him a full view of the entire gala. Extravagantly dress people packed the museum. Soft music and conversation filled the air. Ashe had been hit on by no less eight drunk people. Luckily only two of them were a little too handsy. 

Across the way on the opposite stairwell, Dimitri and Dedue were dress to the nines. The brooding blonde was turned inwards towards the larger dark-skinned man, who’s resting bitch face was more than enough to keep the chattier guests away. 

Felix had stationed himself next to the lower leveled bar. He looked very angry, but when wasn’t he. Ingrid was standing in the crowed, chugging her third glass of champaign. Ashe got it, seeing as how her ex was currently surrounded by a mob of adoring fans. 

Dorathea Arnault was wearing a very low-cut dress and her arm around the Brigid diplomate. Petra Macneary must have a lot of confidence to be standing next to one of the most famous singers in Fodlen. 

Ashe had caught sight of some pink hair a little way off. Hilda was a well-known model for Goneril Fashion Line and the woman Marianne got with after they ended things. If Hilda was here, that meant the Golden Deer had one of the best drivers on their team. 

Marianne von Edmund was the adopted daughter of Isaak von Edmund and heiress to Edmund Luxury Motors. They actually met when Ashe had been trying to steal her sports car. Ashe smiled at the memory. Marianne had scared the shit out of him, like a ghost in the night. Ashe couldn’t be that upset about their breakup. She was under a lot of pressure from her adopted father and really struggled with her self-esteem back then. Ashe was happy for her, Hilda seemed like a good girlfriend. 

Another guest grabbed a glass for Ashe’s tray. He gave a small nod. The music changed to a slow waltz. Ashe shifted the tray to his other hand. Taking note of the security, Ashe felt electricity flood his veins. 

The guests on the stairwell landing seemingly parted for a teal haired woman coming up the stairs. Byleth ascended the landing and heading straight for him. Her hair cascaded in curls to frame her face. The black dress had a slit running up the side to expose her left leg. Ashe’s gaze followed the movement of her step, over her curves, past her exposed shoulders, to meet her heated stare. Her dark red lips twitched into a sultry half smile when their eyes meet. 

Ashe swallowed. “Nice dress.” 

Byleth grabbed the last flute of champaign from his tray. Ashe felt his blood rush to his face and lower region. “Nice waiter’s attire.” She winked at him over the rim of her glass.  
Byleth took a long sip, finishing half the champaign. She stepped closer. Ashe could smell the floral yet dark scent of her perfume. It suited her, beautiful yet dangerous. She slid her hand into his pocket. To anyone else, she was just another patron feeling up the help. Ashe felt the weight of earpiece she gave him. “I’ll keep my eye on you.” She pulled away and finished drink. Byleth gave him one last flirtatious smile before she disappearing into the crowd.

Ashe’s heart was pounding. Whether from being slightly turned on or from the anxiety, he wasn’t sure. Taking his empty tray, Ashe went back to the top-level bar where Mercedes was mixed cocktails. 

Sylvain causally leaned against the bar top, a whiskey in hand. The redhaired in the tux swirled his glass a time or two as he smirked at Ashe. “She was hot. Did you managed to get her number?” 

Mercedes flicked Sylvain in the back of the head with her towel. “Leave him alone.” Sylvain shot her a look as he fixed his hair. “What?! She was clearly hitting on him.”  
Ashe set his tray on the bar for Mercedes to fill back up. He tried not to make eye contact with either of them. 

“Oh, you did get her number, didn’t you?!” Sylvain straightened up to throw his arm over Ashe’s shoulder. Mercedes rolled her eyes. “Come on, look at that blush. Way to go man. Let me see.” 

“What, no!” Ashe shrugged him off. “She might have flirted with me.” Sylvain laughed into his drink and Mercedes did even try to hide her smile. “But I didn’t get her number just then.” It wasn’t technically a lie. 

But Sylvain saw right through it. “If not ‘just then’ then when?”

Mercedes finished loading Ashe’s tray. “Ah, Sylvain. You might want to go help Dimitri out. He has company.” 

The two men whipped around to see red and gold move through the crowd towards the stairs where Dimitri stood. “Shit and that asshat is with them.” Sylvian throw back the last of his drink and hurried off towards the converging groups. 

Ashe was a little relieved. With a shaky breath, he turned back to the blonde bartender. “Was she your mystery woman?” Mercedes passed another waiter a mixed drink.  
Ashe waited until Sylvain was out of earshot before answering. “Yeah.” Another wave of heat warmed his face. 

“She is very beautiful.” Mercedes gave him an encouraging smile. “You’ve got this.” Ashe signed and fished the earpiece out of his pocket. Giving Mercedes one last nod, Ashe stuck it into his ear.

“Welcome to the party, Freckles.” Hapi’s voice came through the earpiece. 

It was a bit disorienting having two earpieces in, the sounds around him were a bit muffled. 

Ashe bite his lip and gave the signal his could hear. Annette was listening so Ashe couldn’t verbally respond. Mercedes was smart enough to not be watching anymore, preoccupying herself with restocking the limes. 

“Just like we rehearsed.” Yuri chimed in. Ashe lifted his tray back up with a little too much force before he headed back to his post.

The plan was to wait for the speeches to start before Mercedes blew the generator, giving them the maximum amount of time for Ashe to get to the elevator before the backup power kicked back on. Only a matter of minutes now. Ashe could already see the major investors being to crowd the main exhibits. 

Out of the corner of his eye Ashe could see Edelgard in her red dress and her prepupal dark cloud, Hubert, leave to join the growing crowd. Claude in his gaudy gold suit, clapped Dimitri on back before taking his people and heading off. Ashe really wished Annette hadn’t disabled Dimitri or Dedue’s comms for that, but such was the rules. 

The music stopped as Rhea, the owner of the museum, took to the temporary stage. “Thank you all for coming. Let us celebrate another year of your generosity.”  
Ashe disguised his scoff with a cough. Just another room of rich pompous assholes stroking their own egos. 

The crowd clapped after some more opening words and Rhea motioned to a serious looking, green haired man entering the stage. “I would now like to introduce my colleague Seteth Cichol, the head curator here at Garreg Mach.”

That was Ashes cue. As inconspicuously as he could, Ashe made his way to the Kyphon exhibit. A few guests still mingled around, so it wasn’t suspicious for a waiter to be there. Ashe took position in the blind spot. 

“Fifteen seconds until blackout.” Annette’s chipper voice came over the comm. 

“Cutting it close, aren’t we?” Constance chimed in. 

Ashe could feel his heart beat a little faster in anticipation. Following Annette’s count down, Ashe worked on steeling his nerves. A simple get in, get out situation.  
“Seven, six, five…” Annette was cut off by a huge explosion, nothing like what Mercedes had cooked up. 

“For FUCK sake what was that ?!” Dimitri roared over the comm. If it hadn’t been for his rage-filled tone, Dimitri’s question would have been drowned out by the screams and crush of people heading for the exists.

Mercedes was the first to answer. “Leonie, if I had to guess. That poor girl was never one for subtlety.” 

This was the exact opposite of subtle. A few seconds later though Mercedes’s own bomb must have went off, because the lights went out. The whole Museum was plunged into darkness which only amplified the chaos. Ashe could pick up whiffs of smoke somewhere. Never had he have a job go so wrong, so quickly.

“Ashe, move!” Byleth’s stern voice prompted him in to action. She was right, now was not the time to panic. Ashe knew what to do.

With the lights out, no one could see Ashe grab a small black backpack hidden behind a decorative plant. Curtesy of Ingrid. Pushing against the flood of panicked guests, Ashe made it to the secret elevator. “Annette, I’m at the elevator.” 

Vigorous typing filled the comm. “Darn it. There are too many of us in here! I’m having trouble getting it open without worrying about someone tripping the backup alarms. Give me a second.” 

“We don’t have time! We need to get out of here before this can get any worse.” Felix sounded extra agitated. 

“We are not leaving until we get what we came for!” Dimitri and Yuri spoke in unison. That caused Hapi to snort back laughter. 

Constance was in no mood it seemed when she got back on the comms. “This is a complete and utter mess. Pease tell Miss Dominic to concentrate on the doors. I will keep any uninvited guests at bay.” 

“Annette, just get the doors open. We can worry about the other stuff once I’m in. Okay?” Ashe really needed to get away from this spot soon. Security would be bringing up the Relics any moment now and Ashe couldn’t be standing here when they arrived.

Though, it seemed the Goddess was on his side. “Looks like Hilda is running interference.” Sylvain was way to causal for what was going on around them. “That just means she’s stalling for someone else, dumbass.” Felix growled in response.

Either way it worked in Ashe’s favor. With a soft ping, the concealed elevator doors opened and Ashe slipped inside. He could hear Annette cheering herself as he got to work. First, he shed the waiter’s jacket and towel, stuffing them in his bag. He quickly yanked off his dress shoes and slipped on his tennis shoes. 

Rolling up his sleeves, Ashe pulled out an extending tool to pop open the emergency trapped door. Once open, Ashe used the handrail to help propel himself up to the opening before pulling himself on top of the elevator car. Closing the trap Ashe flatten himself out. “I’m in position.” 

There must have been a collective sigh of relief from both groups. “Good work, couldn’t have done it better myself.” Byleth’s praise made Ashe’s checks heat up as he fought the smile forming on his face.

“Stop flirting, we have work to do.” Yuri’s frustrated voice dampened Ashe’s mood slightly. He could only imagine Byleth’s eye roll.

It was at that moment Ashe heard the elevator doors opened again and the security must have rolled the Relics in. The mechanics whirled to live and Ashe barely had time to secure himself before the car dropped quickly beneath the Museum. 

Once the car came to a stop, Ashe looked up to see another pair of doors about a floor above. “Annette, can you open another pair of doors…. Annette?” There was radio silence in his comm.

“You’re too far down, the others cannot hear you now. But do not fret, I will get those doors open for you.” Constance was overly reassuring. Yet, the doors open with a creak from nonuse. 

Ashe used the most of the cramped space to take a running leap off the opposing wall, redirect his momentum up towards the upper level. Pulling himself up, Ashe slipped in between the partially opened doors. Just in time too as the car quickly ascended to the surface.

Ashe lowered himself down enough just enough to drop down the rest of the way. Landing with a soft thud, the bottom level doors pinged opened for him. Ashe moved into the converted holy mausoleum.

The room was massive! Ashe struggled to make out the other side. A chill alerted him to blizzard security spells. One wrong move and Ashe could be frozen solid. He followed the set path through the maze of other artifacts until Ashe got to the Hero Relics. 

They were divided by ancient countries and type. Ashe made his way past two lances, a shield, a hammer, and a strange gem, before finding Areadbhar. Observing the security around the lance, Ashe could determine with was protected by at least three spell locks. 

Ashe tugged off his backpack. Unzipping the side pocket, Ashe took out a small handheld device and plugged it into the port on the platform. After a few beeps and flashing lights, the locks clicked off. But unfortunately, an alarm blared as a red light strobed in the area. Ashe looked up to see Ignatz Victor taking Failnaught off its own pedestal. Shit!! 

The counterfeit artist was also exceptional as stealth, but apparently not that stealthy. “"Ungh... I should have known this would happen..." Ripping the bow away, the man fled into the shadows. SHIT!

Ashe didn’t bother with the devise anymore. Strapping Areadbhar to his back, Ashe rushed further back. He couldn’t find Chalice of Beginnings. The blizzard spells were starting to activate, ice began forming on the walls and ground. Ashe could see his breath as he continued to search.

“Ashe, the tempters are dropping too fast, you need to get out of there!” Byleth voice caught in her throat. He ignored her. 

Ashe continued to run past the different pieces and antiques. It was difficult to ignore the chill in his bones. Skating to a stop, Ashe spotted another set of doors. “Constance, I think there’s another elevator. Can you open it?”

“Can I open it, he asks?!” The cocky woman scoffed. “Of course, just one moment.” The elevator pinged before she was even done speaking.

“Hate to break it to you pal, but you’ve got security headed your way. Got maybe three minutes tops.” Balthus was not helping!

Ashe jumped into the elevator. He didn’t bother to be stealthy anymore, they already knew someone was down here. He rode down another few levels, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Once he reached the bottom, the doors opened to reveal a large expanse with a single glass case in the very center. Inside was the Chalice.

The ice hadn’t reached this area yet, but an angry buzz let Ashe knew there were some unseen traps protecting the room. “Constance, I need some more help. Please!”  
There was furious clacking of keys and some quite a few expletives before she answered him. “Infuriately this system is not on the same network. I can do it, but it will take me some time.” The cockiness was fading into panic. 

“He doesn’t have time. You should get out of there Freckles.” There was an unusual amount of concern in Hapi’s normally monotoned voice.

“No, we finish the job. We won’t get another chance like this again!” Yuri calm collected tone was also cracking. 

Ashe did another sweep of the room. What looked like a power box was attached to the wall in the back-right corner. Squinting a little, Ashe could make out the lines running of the box to the floor. Taking out a small coin from a pocket in his backpack, Ashe tossed to the floor. The coin hit smack dab in the middle of a off-colored plate on the floor. It immediately sparked to light as a power Thoron security spell electrocuted the coin. It was over in a second, but Ashe could see the once shiny gold turned black. Ashe looked around again and noted the panels on the floor. Nodding to himself, as nervous energy turned calm excitement. “I can do it.” 

The comms was quiet for a second. “Ashe, tell me what you see?” Byleth sounded stoic, there was the tinies eagerness in her voice. Was she getting excited too?

“Floors electrified, power is located in the back, it’s a standard checkerboard pattern.” Ashe spied a level to his left. “Oh, an there’s a lever. Probably another trap?” 

Byleth was quick to respond. “I don’t think so. Based on the power levels Constance is picking up, there isn’t enough for another trap. I bet you anything that will switch the current off.” 

“Security is in the main elevator now. Got about a minute.” Balthus again was not helping. 

“Constance, slow them down.” It seemed like Yuri’s aloofness was back. 

Ashe took off Areadbhar and retightened the straps on his backpack and glanced over the railing of the balcony. There was about a six-foot drop to the closest safe panel. “Okay.” Taking a deep breath Ashe vaulted the railing.

Landing in a crouch, Ashe was too far ahead of where he wanted to land. His toes were just inches from the next electrified panel. He rocked back on his heels to fall away from the deadly floor. Ashe let out a shaky breath.

“I held them up as long as I can. Security have made it to the holy mausoleum.” Constance sounded frustrated as she typed away.

Byleth must have shushed her. “Ashe, how is it going?” He was already leaping to the next panel. “Almost there.”

“Good, Constance can buy you another minute on the second elevator. But you should try to hurry.” Her soothing voice was helping Ashe focus. “Just be safe.”

Ashe took a running jump to the last panel were the lever mechanism, again almost over shooting it. Ashe grabbed the lever at the last second and it shifted off under his weight. The floor turned off with the sound of old gears. Ashe hung his head in relief, before turning his attention to glass case in the center of the room. Sprinting to it, Ashe pulled out his lockpicks and got to work. He would have thought with all the extra security, the museum would have upgraded the standard hinge lock. But he wasn’t about look a gift horse in the mouth right now.

Ashe got the case open and pulled out the Chalice of Beginnings. It was heavier than it looked! Shoving it in his backpack and took off back to the elevator. Grabbing the lance of the floor, Ashe slide between the doors as they closed. It was being called back up to the surface. Not wasting any time. Ashe used the lance to open the emergence door and pushed it through. With a precision jump Ashe hulled himself up as way. Once he was satisfied with his hiding spot, Ashe let his face fall flat on the cold metal. He took several deep breaths to stead his heartbeat. 

It didn’t take long for the elevator to reach the upper floor of the mausoleum. Ashe curled his fist around Areadbhar. He only had one chance at this. As the elevator slowed to a stop Ashe jammed the lance in the guide rail brackets above him. Once the elevator car began its descent Ashe held onto the lance. Swing on it for a moment Ashe jumped over the chasm of the elevator shaft to the safety of the mausoleum floor. Using his extending tool, Ashe pulled Areadbhar free.

The ice had rescinded enough for security to get past, but it was starting to creep back up. Ashe raced over the slipper floor to the last elevator, which pinging open for him. Coming to a stop inside, Ashe let himself relax for a moment. 

“Good job.” There was pride in Byleth’s voice and the simple praise warmed Ashe’s face. He smiled softly to himself.

“You’re not out of the woods yet Freckles. Balthus is bring the car around. Meet him out the back by that stupid knight painting.” Hapi shook Ashe out of his giddiness and back in the game. 

Taking out his shoes and waiter’s jacket, Ashe buttoned the tails up and flipped it inside out. Changing his shoes and running his hands through his hair, Ashe looked like any other guest. 

“ASHE! Thank goodness. You were done there longer than we anticipated!” Annette’s connection finally reestablished. It sounded like she was been crying.

“Ran in to so unexpected problems, nothing to worry about.” Ashe waited to reach the top. 

Dimitri was practically growling like a wild animal. “Did you get Areadbhar?!” The end of his sentence was slightly cut off and the echo of Dedue’s voice let Ashe know he was trying to calm the rabid man down. 

“Yes, I got it.” Ashe tighten his grip tightened on the lance.

The doors pinged open and Ashe was greeted by a smiling Mercedes. She had with her a massive cello case. The security lights were blinking, giving them a little light. Weird green smoke was billowing up a side stair case. “Just a small diverse.” Mercedes winked at him.

Ashe helped her fit the lance into the cello case, which she took with her as they parted way. “Good luck.” She whispered to him before disappearing into the remaining crowd. 

Ashe rushed to the blind spot with the emergency exit door. He felt the anxiety and adrenaline leave his body when the cold night air washed over him. Making a beeline down the street towards the designated pickup, Ashe was surprised when he couldn’t find Balthus signature black SUV. 

“Friend.” Ashe spun around at the sound of Yuri’s voice. “Sorry, nothing personal. It’s just business.” Ashe didn’t even see it coming. A black shape smashed down on his skull and it made him see stars before blacking out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a drawing by @mamirato on twitter that I saw of Marihilda Biker AU awhile back and I was sold. I was just like "Yes that's the one. I'll take eight." It inspired me to make Marianne the Gold Deer's getaway driver. I love Marianne so freaking much. 
> 
> Also, I was trying to go for a Mission Impossible vibe with this one, but I think I undercut it a bit when I kept shouting "Hardcore Parkour!" when I was writing Ashe doing all those jumps.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said I would work on getting the next chapter out soon. Well, I did it.

Ashe regained consciousness with a pounding ache on his temple. His eyesight was still fuzzy. When he went to rub his head, Ashe discovered he was tied down to a chair, hands behind his back. The realization was like being dunked in cold water. Blinking to clear his vision, Ashe found himself in an immaculate skyrise office overlooking Garreg Mach City. The room was dark and Ashe faced the large oak desk. A muffled whimper to his side alerted Ashe to the fact he was not alone. Blinking a bit more, Ashe’s blood frozen in his veins and his heart stopped.

Abby was gagged and bound to her own chair not even a foot away. Her eyes were red and full of terror, tears streaming down her face. All the air left Ashe’s lungs.

A door behind them swung open and someone flicked the lights on. “I would like to thank you Mr. Ubert for your assistance this evening.” The tall man, Aelfric walked over to the desk where he placed the Chalice of Beginnings. “I would say it almost makes up for your interference.” 

The man spun around and punch Ashe in the face. Ashe’s noise broke with a sickening crack, blood spilling from it. It made the pounding in his head worse and his vision spotty. Abby let out a muffled scream.

“Do NOT touch my things!” Aelfric caged Ashe in with his arms and was in his face.

Ashe leaned his head back, trying to get some distance. “I don’t know what you’re taking about!”

Aelfric pushed off the chair and took a step back. “I am a collector of beautiful and rare things, Mr. Ubert. Like this Chalice here.” He gestured to the object next to him. “Ancient lore said it had the power to revive the dead. There has never been another one like it and for a time, historians believe it was lost to the ages. There’s nothing quiet like it.” That’s when he turned his creepy gaze to Abby.

“Leave her alone! She has nothing to do with this!” Ashe struggled against his bounds. 

Alefric spun Ashe’s chair to look at his sister. Abby looked terrified. She was shaking so hard and more tears poured down her checks. The gag blocked a hiccup. 

Alefric walked over to forcefully pull her chin to look up at him. “Look at those pretty eyes, I don’t think I’ve seen such green. And this pretty silver hair, so rare.” He pushed a few strains off her face. Twisting Abby’s face back towards Ashe, she left out a whimper of pain.

“You know she gave my men a run for their money? Even shot one in the leg.” The crazed man pushed his face against Abby and gave a twisted smile. 

Ashe was crying now too. Tears mixing with the blood run out his nose. “Please, PLEASE just let her go! I’m the one you want! I’ll do anything you want, just let her go!” But there was no pleading with the man.

“I think not. You tried to take something that was mine, it’s only fair if I take something of yours.” Aelfric placed his hands on Abby’s shoulder, slowly moving one up to grab her neck. “I bet with a little training she could be just as good at you. What do you say little mouse? Would you like to sneak around and find other treasures for me?”

The way this disgusting monster put his hands on Abby sent Ashe into a rage. Ashe struggled harder, threating to topple his chair. If pleading won’t work, maybe threats would. “Get your hands off her, you BASTARD!! I swear to the Goddess. If you don’t let her go, I swear I will kill you!!” 

That only caused Aelfric to laugh. “More imposing men than you told me that, yet none have succussed.” Slowly he released Abby.

The door behind them opened with a bang this time. Glancing over, Ashe saw Yuri drag Byleth in by her arm. They were screaming at it other and Byleth was trying to land some punches, a few connecting. She stopped struggling when she laid eyes on the scene before her.

“What is this? Aelfric, why?!” She wrung herself free and put herself in front of Abby. She was blocking the small girl from that freak. 

Ashe was grateful she did that. But more bile raised in his throat at the thought of why she felt the need to protect his sister. Ashe could see Byleth was starting to cry.  
“You know why. You thought you could just leave me! I couldn’t let that happen.” Aelfric pulled Byleth close to him so she was just shy of a kiss. Ashe thrashed again and Yuri to a step forward. 

“We got what you wanted. Just let them go, please. I promise it won’t happen again. I’ll stay, I promise!” Byleth looked like she was trying to hold herself together, but she couldn’t stop her tears.

In a quick motion, Aelfric back handed her and sent her sprawling across the floor. Byleth landed at Ashe’s feet and Abby gave another muffled scream. A bruise was already forming on Byleth’s cheek. 

“Your mother said the same thing. She promised not to leave too. But she lied! I gave her a chance, but she lied to me! And you are too.” Aelfric pulled a gun from his coat pocket.  
Yuri made another move. “Aelfric, please. She made a mistake. I won’t let that happen again.” He sounded lost.

Aelfric rolled his head to look at the younger man. “You have already failed me. I won’t let THAT happen again.” Aelfric leveled the gun at Ashe’s chest. 

Ashe felt incredible calm considering the situation. A few things happened at once. Aelfric fired. Abby screamed. Yuri lunged. But Byleth was the one to force Aelfric’s arm into the air. The bullet tore through Ashe’s right shoulder. It hurt like hell, it burned and the bones were definitely broken. But he was alive. For now.

In a scuffle, Aelfric managed to get on top of Byleth. He was choking her. “I should have known. You’re just like her. Delicate little Sitri, always a fighter. You might be stronger because of your father. But I own you, your mine and if I want to end you, I will. Just like I did with your mother.” 

That made Byleth fight back harder. She landed a blow to Aelfric’s ribs, causing the man to lose his grip on her throat. That gave Byleth a chance to knock the larger man back and army crawl away. 

While they were distracted, Yuri came up behind Ashe and cut him free. “You need to get out of here, friend. Get out of the country and hide.”

Ashe, despite common sense, leapt up and sucker punched the purple jackass in the face. Yuri stumbled backwards. That was a huge mistake. The pain that rocked through Ashe made him sick. He swallowed it back and turned to Abby. 

He pulled the gag out. “Ashe, please! I don’t want to die!” Her words were choked with sobs. 

Ashe did his best to untie her, but it was difficult with only one hand. “Hey, look at me. You’re going to be fine.” He was trying not to cry for her. “You need to run as fast as you can. Get Austin and head for Leicester. Marianne will help you okay?”

“I’m not leaving you! I can’t lose you!” Abby wiggled one hand free.

A solid body collided with Ashe, knocking him away from Abby. Aelfric had tossed Byleth into him. Her lip was split and a painful bruise was forming on her neck. Aelfric picked the gun off the floor. 

“If I can’t have you, no one can.” He leveled the gun at the couple on the floor.

Ashe did his best to wrap his one good arm around Byleth. Her purple eyes focused on his, they were full of sorrow.

The blast never came. Ashe looked up to see Yuri, who was too short, try to wrestle the gun out of Aelfric’s hand. Byleth took that moment of hesitation to leap up and tackle Aelfric over the desk. 

The second the giant window smashed was the moment Ashe’s heart broke.

With a scream he ran over the desk to find Byleth gripping onto the window. Broke glass cutting into her hands. Aelfric lay dead on a terrace below.

Byleth meet his eyes, tears fell from hers. He tried to pull her up, but his bad arm was stopping him. In fact, in trying to pull her up, Ashe was being pulled out the window. “Ashe, it’s okay. Let me go.” Broken sobs prevented her from sounding calm.

Ashe’s tears were falling on her face now. “No, I can’t! I won’t lose anyone else!” He kept trying to save her.

She was slipping, her blood making it harder to hold on to her. Suddenly someone else grabbed her other arm. Tear stained Abby was yanking on Byleth’s other arm trying to help pull her up, but their combined strength wasn’t enough. Byleth was holding on by her fingertips. Another sent of hands grabber onto her. Yuri joined the fray. With one last, joint effort, the three managed to pull Byleth back up through the broken window.

Ashe pulled her into a hug and sobbed onto her neck. He felt Byleth reach out and pull Abby into their embrace. The three of them sat huddled and weeping for joy to be alive. Yuri had backed up and leaned on the desk for support. Ashe turned his head to look at the man.

Yuri picked up the telephone on the desk and dialed a number. “Mom?” After a moment he collapsed his weight into the desk chair. “No, I know…. It’s taken care of it, don’t worry…. I’ll be there soon. I just need to take care of somethings first. Okay?... I love you too.” Yuri hung up and dial another number.

But Ashe didn’t get a chance to listen further. Byleth pulled him into a searing kiss. It was full of passion and relief to be alive. Ashe pulled her in to deep the kiss with his good hand. 

Abby wiggled against them. “Gross! Get a room, you freaks.” They parted out of embarrassment. 

Yuri had finished his calls and was typing on Aelfric’s computer. “I am in control now.” He stood up tall. “All of Aelfric’s organization, it’s mine now.” 

Byleth glared at him. “Well do something with it, preferably something productive.”

The purple haired man gave a single huff of amusement. “Always, friend.”

Byleth got up to punch him in the arm, before pulling him into a hug. Abby rested her hand against Ashe’s arm, but jumped in the air when he yelped in pain. “Sorry!”

Byleth was back with them. “Let’s get you patched up.” She ripped her dress up to press the fabric to his shoulder.

Ashe was exhausted and the blood loss was making him a bit delirious, but he couldn’t help the goofy smile spreading across his face. “I think I love you.”

Byleth’s lips twitched before she couldn’t stop her own smile. “I think I love you too.” It was a little watery, but it made Ashe heart beat faster.

“Seriously, could you wait until I’m not in the room?!” Abby assisted Byleth in attending to Ashe.

“I’m in agreement, you two are gross.” Yuri gave his own choked up smile.

Everyone just half cried, half laughed until backup arrived.

\---

“Say cheese!” Byleth held the camera up to take a picture of Austin and Simon in their suits. Her bandaged finger was more dexterous then Ashe’s broken arm. Ashe slung his good arm over Byleth’s shoulders, pulling her in to kiss her cheek.

The two boys posed and made faces as Byleth snapped a few more pictures. Abby in the background pretending to gag. 

“Okay, okay we got to go or we’re going to be late.” Austin whined. Simon just chuckled as he rubbed the shorter boy’s back.

Ashe pulled the camera out of Byleth’s hand and she gave a mild protest. “Let them be. Besides we can always take more. In a few short months we’ll be moving them into their dorm room and that will call for more pictures.” Ashe flashed his bother a wicked smirk.

Austin blanched at Ashe’s threat. “You can’t be serious.” Simon too, looked a little worried. With a huff Austin pulled his boyfriend to the new fancy car, curtesy of Yuri. Austin stop for a second before running back and yanking Ashe into a tight hug. "I love you, jerk." 

With that he jumped in the car. The three remaining people laughed at Austin’s expense. Byleth continued to take pictures as they drove away.

“I’m ordering pizza AND I’m getting pineapple on it!” Abby harshly pointed at the couple, daring them to challenge her.

“And you call us freaks, you weirdo.” Ashe prevented to throw up. He smiled up at Byleth for back up.

The woman just crossed her arms to stare down Ashe. “I’m with her on this one.”

Ashe felt his mouth fall open in shock. “Are you crazy?! Pineapple doesn’t belong on pizza!”

“HA!! You’re out numbered, we’re getting pineapple!” Abby skipped back to the house.

Ashe opened and closed his mouth a few times. “I’ll call Austin back here and we will settle with once and for all!”

Byleth laughed at him and gently rested her hands on his chest. “Leave her be. Besides if you play nice, I might give you a reward, my knight.” Her pupils were blown wide as she looked up at him through her lashes. 

Ashe audibly swallowed. “I can be… can be nice.” Goddess, she made him feel like a schoolboy.

Byleth pushed up against him, rising up on her toes to press a kiss on his lips. Unfortunately, the pressure of her kiss on his lips aggravated his healing nose. He winced for a moment. 

“Sorry!” Byleth let go and led him inside. 

She set him on the couch. Once Ashe was settled, Byleth flicked through the movies. Abby skipped into the living room and plopped down next to Ashe, who winced again. She didn’t even seem that apologetic. “Pizza will be here in thirty minutes” She tried to grab the remote out of Byleth’s hand, but the woman was too quick. “Fine, but no romance. I already get enough of that mush from you two.” Abby shifted her weight around to get comfy.

Ashe ruffled her hair before pull Abby in for a side hug. Byleth snickered and tenderly leaned her head against his bad shoulder. As the movie queued up, Ashe felt a vibration in his pocket.

He fumbled a moment before Byleth reached in his jeans and pulled out the small devise. Ashe gave her a nod of appreciate before looking at the number. 

It was the redheaded jerk himself. Ashe took a moment to glance at both girls by his side. Abby huffed and rolled her eyes, signaling him to answer.

“Ashe! Glad to hear you made it out, mostly unscathed. How did you manage to break your arm falling off the sidewalk?” Ashe wanted to scrunched his nose in irritation at the man’s laughter, but it hurt to much.

“What do you want Sylvian?” Ashe looked over at Byleth. Her face twisted in confusion. 

Sylvain wasted no time. “It really quite simple, an in-and-out job.” 

Ashe continued to stare at Byleth, who now looked somewhat intrigued. Glancing over at Abby, the two gave her puppy dog eyes while they waited for her decision.

“You two really are freaks! What is this, some kind of foreplay?!” Abby looked angry for a moment, crossing her arms and grumbled for a second. “Fine! But there are going to be ground rules this time. No lying, no secret double cross groups, and you better let me help.” She flashed Ashe her scary smile.  
“What, no way!” Ashe pulled the phone to his chest so Sylvain could hear.

Abby made another attempt at the remote in Byleth’s hands. But Byleth was still too quick. “Either you agree, or I’ll forbid it.”

“Better do as she said, love. She might shoot you in the leg next time.” Byleth smiled into his neck again.

Ashe chewed on his lip for a second. Putting the phone back to his ear, Ashe let out a heavy sigh. “You son of bitch, we’re in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Roll credits! 
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this. I love a good heist and I thought Ashe was the prefect character to pull one off. Also, Sylvian would totally make the prefect Brad Pitt character in a heist move. (That's why I had him eating something in as many scenes as possibly.) 
> 
> I wanted to get this done because I have another idea brewing that I want to get done for Christmas. I could not take on another writing project and leave it half finished.
> 
> Anyway, thank you to everyone who stayed with this until the end. I really appreciate it and all your comments made my day. I promise to get better at responding in the future!

**Author's Note:**

> I really enjoy post time skip Ashe. He goes from "I'll save you, my sweet cinnamon roll!" to "Save me, sweet cinnamon roll!" (at least in my playthroughs.) And yes the title is a Rick and Morty reference.


End file.
